The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index rose to a more than 11-year peak on Friday on solid demand for all vessels, with capesize rates scaling their highest since mid-2009.
The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, rose 116 points, or about 3%, to its highest since mid-2010 at 4,092.
The main index also registered a 14.8% gain for the week, its best since the one ending on June 11.
Shipping analysts have cited an overall rebound in commodities demand and shipping constraints, especially in China, as having contributed to the recent rally in the dry bulk sector.
The capesize index also advanced 5% to a more than 11-year high at 5,997 points, marking a fifth straight weekly gain, up 25.8%.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, rose by $2,370 to $49,731.
Meanwhile, Dalian iron ore eked out a small gain on Friday but marked its fifth consecutive weekly decline as market unease grew over demand prospects in top steel producer China.
The panamax index advanced 31 points, or 0.8%, to its highest in more than a month at 3,785. The index rose 6.1% this week.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, increased by $281 to $34,063.
Among smaller vessels, the supramax index added 39 points to 3,276, an all-time high as per Refinitiv Eikon data available since 2017.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)