The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk freight index, which tracks rates for vessels transporting dry bulk commodities, fell for an eighth straight session on Wednesday and touched a six-month-low, hurt by weakness in the capesize segment.
The main index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, lost 42 points, or 2.6%, to 1,566, its lowest since July last year.
The capesize index fell 124 points, or 5.1%, to 2,322.
Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transport 150,000-ton cargoes such as iron ore and coal, decreased $1,117 to $17,560.
However, Dalian iron ore futures edged up after China reported its highest ever monthly imports of the steelmaking ingredient and record-high steel exports.
Among smaller vessels, the supramax index (.BSIS) rose by 1 point to 953, snapping a 23-day losing streak.
“The capesize and supramax segments were most impacted by weaker coal shipments into China, as their coal tonne mile demand fell 44% and 19% respectively. Both segments faced tough competition from the panamax segment, while capesize tonne miles were especially impacted by weaker shipments of Colombian coal,” said Filipe Gouveia, shipping analysis manager at BIMCO.
China’s 2025 coal imports fell 10% to 490.27 million metric tons, customs data showed on Wednesday.
The capesize index fell around 26% in December, while the supramax segment posted a 20.6% decline in the same period.
The panamax index rose, adding 10 points, or 0.8%, to 1,341.
Average daily earnings for panamax vessels, which usually carry 60,000 to 70,000 tons of coal or grain, increased $94 to $12,072.
Source: Reuters