Tue Aug 7, 2012
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, used to track rates for ships carrying dry commodities, fell on Tuesday for the 21st straight day, on falling panamax rates.
The main index, which factors in the average daily earnings of capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels, dropped 7 points or 0.83 percent to 836 points.
Growing ship supply has been outpacing commodity demand for some time and is widely expected to weigh on dry bulk freight rates in the coming months.
The Baltic's panamax index dipped 2.47 percent to 868 points. Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which typically transport 60,000 to 70,000 tonne cargoes of coal or grain, fell $175 to $6,921.
The average daily earnings for handysize and supramax ships fell to $7,843 and $10,103, respectively.
The Baltic Exchange's capesize index rose 23 points to 1,237 points, a gain of 1.89 percent.
Average daily earnings of capes, which usually transport 150,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, climbed to $4,596.
Iron ore shipments account for around a third of seaborne volumes on the larger capesizes, and brokers said price developments remained a key factor for dry freight.
Meanwhile, analysts observed that falling iron ore and steel prices forced steel producers to cut back production and reduce raw material imports.
The overall index, which gauges the cost of shipping commodities including iron ore, coal and grain, has fallen about 52 percent this year.
(Reporting by Naveen Arul in Bangalore, editing by Jane Baird)
Aug 7 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, used to track rates for ships carrying dry commodities, fell on Tuesday for the 21st straight day, on falling panamax rates.
The main index, which factors in the average daily earnings of capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels, dropped 7 points or 0.83 percent to 836 points.
Growing ship supply has been outpacing commodity demand for some time and is widely expected to weigh on dry bulk freight rates in the coming months.
The Baltic's panamax index dipped 2.47 percent to 868 points. Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which typically transport 60,000 to 70,000 tonne cargoes of coal or grain, fell $175 to $6,921.
The average daily earnings for handysize and supramax ships fell to $7,843 and $10,103, respectively.
The Baltic Exchange's capesize index rose 23 points to 1,237 points, a gain of 1.89 percent.
Average daily earnings of capes, which usually transport 150,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, climbed to $4,596.
Iron ore shipments account for around a third of seaborne volumes on the larger capesizes, and brokers said price developments remained a key factor for dry freight.
Meanwhile, analysts observed that falling iron ore and steel prices forced steel producers to cut back production and reduce raw material imports.
The overall index, which gauges the cost of shipping commodities including iron ore, coal and grain, has fallen about 52 percent this year.
(Reporting by Naveen Arul in Bangalore, editing by Jane Baird)
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