The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index, which tracks rates for vessels transporting dry bulk commodities, edged up on Tuesday, supported by stronger capesize vessel rates.
The main index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, snapped an eight-day losing streak, gaining 11 points, or 0.5%, to 2,204 points.
The capesize index rose 115 points, or about 3.1%, to 3,834 points.
Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transport 150,000-ton cargoes such as iron ore and coal, increased by $959 to $31,800.
Iron ore futures prices rebounded on Tuesday after touching a five-month low in the prior session, helped by the anticipation of a wave of restocking from steel mills in top consumer China for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Meanwhile, the panamax index lost 67 points, or 4.1%, to 1,577 points, its lowest level since July 8.
Average daily earnings for panamax vessels, which usually carry 60,000 to 70,000 tons of coal or grain, decreased by $607 to $14,189.
Among smaller vessels, the supramax index lost 25 points to 1,335 points. Source: Reuters
