Fri Oct 26, 2012
Oct 26 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry commodities, fell on Friday due to moderate activity in the capesize segment.
The overall index, which reflects daily freight market prices for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels, fell slightly by 2 points to 1,049 points. The index fell 1.14 percent this week.
The Baltic's capesize index rose 0.78 percent to 2,451 points.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which usually transport 150,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were slightly up $73 at $16,842.
"We think the capesize market may be up for a breather given the situation witnessed in China at present," Arctic Securities analyst Erik Nikolai Stavseth said in a note.
The majority of steel mills have increased production post-Golden Week on the back of falling steel inventories, prompting a restocking which in turn has driven up iron ore fixture activity, Stavseth said.
"The high fixture activity has provided a sorely needed lift to rates, but as demand for steel in China remains soft, we see iron ore prices declining once the volumes now underway hits the market."
A two-week rally in iron ore prices has begun to slow with steel mills in China cutting their purchases amid concerns about rising costs, but traders said the modest revival in the world's top steel market was likely to continue for a while.
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.
The panamax index fell 0.86 percent, with average daily earnings down $56 at $6,424.
Panamaxes typically transport 60,000-70,000 tonne cargoes of coal or grain.
The panamax market has been under pressure from low coal volumes and ample supply of ships, analysts said.
Average daily earnings for handysize ships were down $33 at $6,397, while those of supramax ships were down $82 at $7,304.
(Reporting by NR Sethuraman in Bangalore; Editing by David Holmes)
Oct 26 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry commodities, fell on Friday due to moderate activity in the capesize segment.
The overall index, which reflects daily freight market prices for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels, fell slightly by 2 points to 1,049 points. The index fell 1.14 percent this week.
The Baltic's capesize index rose 0.78 percent to 2,451 points.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which usually transport 150,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were slightly up $73 at $16,842.
"We think the capesize market may be up for a breather given the situation witnessed in China at present," Arctic Securities analyst Erik Nikolai Stavseth said in a note.
The majority of steel mills have increased production post-Golden Week on the back of falling steel inventories, prompting a restocking which in turn has driven up iron ore fixture activity, Stavseth said.
"The high fixture activity has provided a sorely needed lift to rates, but as demand for steel in China remains soft, we see iron ore prices declining once the volumes now underway hits the market."
A two-week rally in iron ore prices has begun to slow with steel mills in China cutting their purchases amid concerns about rising costs, but traders said the modest revival in the world's top steel market was likely to continue for a while.
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.
The panamax index fell 0.86 percent, with average daily earnings down $56 at $6,424.
Panamaxes typically transport 60,000-70,000 tonne cargoes of coal or grain.
The panamax market has been under pressure from low coal volumes and ample supply of ships, analysts said.
Average daily earnings for handysize ships were down $33 at $6,397, while those of supramax ships were down $82 at $7,304.
(Reporting by NR Sethuraman in Bangalore; Editing by David Holmes)
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