The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, climbed for a fourth consecutive day on demand for vessels to haul coal and iron ore.
The index, which tracks transport costs on international trade routes, rose 115 points, or 1.5 per cent, to 7,993 points on Tuesday, according to the Baltic Exchange in London. That's the highest since Jan 10.
'Iron ore and coal demand has magnified the tightness' in the market, Cape Town-based Dorian Benson, a director at freight derivatives brokerage GFI South Africa, said. There's 'optimism' in the market and 'we will have continued steady and upward movement', he said.
Demand for coal fired a 65 per cent jump in shipments last week from Australia's Newcastle port. The country's exports of commodities including iron ore may rise to a record for a fifth straight year on demand for steelmaking raw materials, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resources Economics said on Tuesday.
The contracts for capesize vessels, which haul cargoes of about 170,000 metric tons, advanced 2.6 per cent to US$144,750 a day for the April-to-June period, according to prices from Imarex NOSA ASA, an Oslo-based freight-derivatives broker. April-to-June contracts for panamaxes that are used to ship 70,000-ton cargoes gained 2.1 per cent, according to Imarex.
The index, which tracks transport costs on international trade routes, rose 115 points, or 1.5 per cent, to 7,993 points on Tuesday, according to the Baltic Exchange in London. That's the highest since Jan 10.
'Iron ore and coal demand has magnified the tightness' in the market, Cape Town-based Dorian Benson, a director at freight derivatives brokerage GFI South Africa, said. There's 'optimism' in the market and 'we will have continued steady and upward movement', he said.
Demand for coal fired a 65 per cent jump in shipments last week from Australia's Newcastle port. The country's exports of commodities including iron ore may rise to a record for a fifth straight year on demand for steelmaking raw materials, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resources Economics said on Tuesday.
The contracts for capesize vessels, which haul cargoes of about 170,000 metric tons, advanced 2.6 per cent to US$144,750 a day for the April-to-June period, according to prices from Imarex NOSA ASA, an Oslo-based freight-derivatives broker. April-to-June contracts for panamaxes that are used to ship 70,000-ton cargoes gained 2.1 per cent, according to Imarex.