Smaller vessels pull Baltic sea index down
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates to ship dry commodities, fell on Wednesday, as rates for smaller vessels slid further,offseting the uptick in capesize rates, Reuters reports. The overall index, which gauges the cost of shipping commodities such as iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser, fell 5 points or 0.54 percent to 926 points.
Ship supply is outpacing commodity demand, capping gains for dry bulk freight rates, with economic uncertainty and talk of slowdown in top commodity consumer China adding to headwinds.
The main index, which factors in the average daily earnings of capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels is down about 46 percent this year.
The Baltic's panamax index declined 0.57 percent, with average daily earnings for panamaxes dropping to $8,337, due to muted demand in Pacific basins.
"With little activity in the Pacific basin and the Easter holidays approaching fast, the market continued to move sideways," broker ICAP Shipping said in a note.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually transport 60,000-70,000 tonne cargoes of coal or grains, have fallen more than 36 percent this year.
Average daily earnings for handysize and supramax ships were down at $8,377 and $10,092, respectively.
Ship supply is outpacing commodity demand, capping gains for dry bulk freight rates, with economic uncertainty and talk of slowdown in top commodity consumer China adding to headwinds.
The main index, which factors in the average daily earnings of capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels is down about 46 percent this year.
The Baltic's panamax index declined 0.57 percent, with average daily earnings for panamaxes dropping to $8,337, due to muted demand in Pacific basins.
"With little activity in the Pacific basin and the Easter holidays approaching fast, the market continued to move sideways," broker ICAP Shipping said in a note.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually transport 60,000-70,000 tonne cargoes of coal or grains, have fallen more than 36 percent this year.
Average daily earnings for handysize and supramax ships were down at $8,377 and $10,092, respectively.
The Baltic's capesize index climbed 1.3 percent, to 1,475 points.
"The capesize market appears to be slightly more active lately with more fixtures and a generally upbeat tone in the physical market," Arctic Securities analyst Erik Nikolai Stavseth said.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, rose to $5,852.
"Fixture activity is light today, with only one capesize vessel fixed for spot loading," Omar Nokta, managing director with Dahlman Rose & Co said on Wednesday.
"The capesize market appears to be slightly more active lately with more fixtures and a generally upbeat tone in the physical market," Arctic Securities analyst Erik Nikolai Stavseth said.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, rose to $5,852.
"Fixture activity is light today, with only one capesize vessel fixed for spot loading," Omar Nokta, managing director with Dahlman Rose & Co said on Wednesday.