The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index rose on Thursday, buoyed by stronger rates across vessel segments.
The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities and reflects rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, was up 13 points, or 1%, at 1,294 points.
“The gap between short and long term contract freight rates on the Trans-Pacific trade lane has never been wider,” the Baltic and International Maritime Council said in a note.
“The stars are now aligned for carriers to achieve higher long term contract rates.”
The capesize index rose 25 points, or 1.3%, to 1,914 points.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were up $211 at $15,875.
The panamax index was up six points, or 0.5%, at 1,305 points.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, increased $56 to $11,748.
Among smaller vessels, the supramax index rose nine points to 930 points, while the handysize index rose one point to 554 points.
Source:Reuters
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