The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, inched lower on Tuesday due to slight weakness in the large and medium vessel segments.
The index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, lost 6 points, or 0.2%, to 3,053.
The capesize index fell 9 points, or 0.3%, to 3,505.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes of iron ore, were down $68 at $29,071.
Futures for steelmaking ingredients on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange rose on Tuesday, with coking coal jumping more than 3% amid supply shortages.
The panamax index dropped 23 points, or 0.6%, to an over three-week low of 3,600, falling for a twelfth straight session.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, fell by $211 to $32,400.
The supramax index firmed by 9 points to 2,783.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)