Tue Jul 17, 2012
July 17 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry commodities, fell on Tuesday for the sixth straight day on dropping capesize rates.
The overall index, which factors in the average daily earnings of capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels, dropped 9 points to 1093 points, down 0.82 percent.
"We continue to expect the oversupply of tonnage to keep rates relatively weak over the near to intermediate term," analyst Michael Webber of Wells Fargo said.
The Baltic Exchange's capesize index fell 0.69 percent to 1,301 points.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were at $5,808, having dropped about 79 percent this year.
A drop in steel prices had hit demand for iron ore, with benchmark iron ore falling the most since early June to its lowest in almost two months.
Shipments of iron ore, used to make steel, account for around a third of seaborne volumes on the larger capesizes.
The Baltic's panamax index rose 0.41 percent, with average daily earnings up $37 at $9,677.
Analysts observed that vessels that had previously been idled returned to the market to chase modestly profitable rates.
The average daily earnings for handysize and supramax ships were both lower at $9,840 and $13,189, respectively.
The overall index, which gauges the cost of shipping commodities such as iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser is down about 37 percent this year.
(Reporting by Naveen Arul in Bangalore; Editing by Anthony Barker)
July 17 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry commodities, fell on Tuesday for the sixth straight day on dropping capesize rates.
The overall index, which factors in the average daily earnings of capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels, dropped 9 points to 1093 points, down 0.82 percent.
"We continue to expect the oversupply of tonnage to keep rates relatively weak over the near to intermediate term," analyst Michael Webber of Wells Fargo said.
The Baltic Exchange's capesize index fell 0.69 percent to 1,301 points.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were at $5,808, having dropped about 79 percent this year.
A drop in steel prices had hit demand for iron ore, with benchmark iron ore falling the most since early June to its lowest in almost two months.
Shipments of iron ore, used to make steel, account for around a third of seaborne volumes on the larger capesizes.
The Baltic's panamax index rose 0.41 percent, with average daily earnings up $37 at $9,677.
Analysts observed that vessels that had previously been idled returned to the market to chase modestly profitable rates.
The average daily earnings for handysize and supramax ships were both lower at $9,840 and $13,189, respectively.
The overall index, which gauges the cost of shipping commodities such as iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser is down about 37 percent this year.
(Reporting by Naveen Arul in Bangalore; Editing by Anthony Barker)
No comments:
Post a Comment