Tue Jul 3, 2012
July 3 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry commodities, rose on Tuesday as rates for capesize vessels surged.
The overall index, a gauge of the cost of shipping commodities such as iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser, was up 50 points or 4.94 percent at 1,063 points.
The capesize index was up 7.14 percent at 1,290 points.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which usually transport 150,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were at $5,709, up $1,543, the largest one-day gain of the year.
However, capesize rates have fallen about 76 percent this year.
Increased capesize activity, which is slowly tightening the tonnage list, has allowed the owners to push for better rates, George Lazaridis, head of research with Greek shipbroker, Intermodal said.
"Ships (capesize) were fixed for fronthaul around the $18,000-$19,000 per day mark depending on descriptions and on Monday most ships are asking over $20,000 per day," ship broker BRS said in a note.
"Players are hoping that we will see rates slowly rise out of the very modest levels achieved these days."
The Baltic Exchange's panamax index rose 2.62 percent to 1,019 points, with average daily earnings for panamaxes, which typically transport 60,000-70,000 tonne cargoes of coal or grains, up $207 at $8,117.
There was an increased activity for panamaxes in both the Pacific and Atlantic basins, Lazaridis of Intermodal said.
(Reporting by NR Sethuraman in Bangalore; editing by Keiron Henderson)
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