Fri Sep 28, 2012
Sept 28 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry commodities, rose on higher capesize activity.
The main index, which factors in the average daily earnings of capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels, rose 22 points or 2.95 percent to 766 points.
The Baltic's capesize index rose 73 points to 1,621 points. Average daily earnings for the vessels, which usually transport 150,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were up 11.5 percent or $829 to $8,039, the highest in over eight months.
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.
Prices of the iron ore steadied on Friday in limited activity as China winds down ahead of a week-long holiday next week.
Shanghai steel futures edged up, tracking other commodities and equities amid optimism over economic reforms unveiled by debt-hit Spain and for China to take more steps to boost its slowing economy.
"With Golden Week upcoming in China next week, the market is likely to remain relatively quiet," Arctic Securities analyst Erik Nikolai Stavseth said in a note.
"Some of the activity seen in the market over the past two weeks have been traders moving ahead of the holidays and have contributed to higher fixture levels," he said.
The panamax index rose 7 points to 425 points after having fallen for five straight days, with average daily earnings for the vessels, which typically transport 60,000-70,000 tonne cargos of coal or grains, up $53 to $3,389.
Average daily earnings for handysize ships were down $44 to $6,893, while those of supramax ships were down $66 to $8,676.
The overall index has fallen 1.03 percent since last week, and 55.92 percent so far this year.
(Reporting By Shruti Chaturvedi in Bangalore; Editing by Alison Birrane)
Sept 28 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry commodities, rose on higher capesize activity.
The main index, which factors in the average daily earnings of capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels, rose 22 points or 2.95 percent to 766 points.
The Baltic's capesize index rose 73 points to 1,621 points. Average daily earnings for the vessels, which usually transport 150,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were up 11.5 percent or $829 to $8,039, the highest in over eight months.
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.
Prices of the iron ore steadied on Friday in limited activity as China winds down ahead of a week-long holiday next week.
Shanghai steel futures edged up, tracking other commodities and equities amid optimism over economic reforms unveiled by debt-hit Spain and for China to take more steps to boost its slowing economy.
"With Golden Week upcoming in China next week, the market is likely to remain relatively quiet," Arctic Securities analyst Erik Nikolai Stavseth said in a note.
"Some of the activity seen in the market over the past two weeks have been traders moving ahead of the holidays and have contributed to higher fixture levels," he said.
The panamax index rose 7 points to 425 points after having fallen for five straight days, with average daily earnings for the vessels, which typically transport 60,000-70,000 tonne cargos of coal or grains, up $53 to $3,389.
Average daily earnings for handysize ships were down $44 to $6,893, while those of supramax ships were down $66 to $8,676.
The overall index has fallen 1.03 percent since last week, and 55.92 percent so far this year.
(Reporting By Shruti Chaturvedi in Bangalore; Editing by Alison Birrane)
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