The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index, which tracks rates for vessels transporting dry bulk commodities, fell to a more than one-month low on Wednesday, pressured by weakness across all vessel segments.
The main index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, lost 83 points, or 3.8%, to 2,121 points, its lowest since November 13.
The capesize index fell 140 points, or about 3.7%, to 3,694 points, a near one-month low.
Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transport 150,000-ton cargoes such as iron ore and coal, fell by $1,163 to $30,637.
Iron ore futures prices rose to a one-week high on Wednesday, helped by accelerated buying in the spot market as steelmakers in top consumer China began restocking feedstock for consumption during the Lunar New Year holiday in February.
The panamax index extended losses, falling 97 points, or 6.2%, to 1,480 points, its lowest level since June 26.
Average daily earnings for panamax vessels, which usually carry 60,000 to 70,000 tons of coal or grain, decreased by $871 to $13,318.
Among smaller vessels, the supramax index lost 27 points to 1,308 points.
Source: Reuters