Baltic index gains on support from larger vessels

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, climbed for the fourth straight session on Monday on improving capesize and panamax rates.

The overall index — which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels — was up 21 points, or 2.47 percent, at 870 points.

The capesize index gained 43 points, or 2.99 percent, to 1,481 points.

“The capesize dry bulk segment is building off of last week’s momentum on the back of a meaningful uptick of activity in the Atlantic market,” Clarksons Platou Securities analysts said in a note.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were up $556 at $11,577.

The panamax index was up 20 points, or 2.46 percent, at 833 points.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, increased $162 to $6,679.

Among smaller vessels, the supramax index rose 4 points to 658 points, while the handysize index fell 1 point to 424 points.