Friday, August 10, 2012

Baltic Index falls on sluggish activity

The Baltic Exchange main sea freight index, which tracks rates for dry commodity shipping, dropped on Thursday for the 23rd consecutive day on sluggish shipping activity.

The main index, which follows daily freight market prices for Capesize, Panamax, Supramax and Handysize dry bulk transport ships, decreased by 22 points or 2.71 percent to arrive at 790 points, the lowest since March 2012.

The Baltic's Capesize index fell 1 percent to 1,192 points. The average daily earnings of Capesizes dropped $143 to $4,067.

The Baltic Exchange's Panamax index dropped 2.02 percent or 17 points to 823 points. Daily earnings for Panamaxes, which usually carry 60,000 to 70,000 ton cargoes of coal or grain, ended at $6,561, a decrease of $137.

The average daily earnings for Handysize and Supramax vessels dropped to $7,762 and $9,472.

The overall index, which gauges the cost of shipping commodities including iron ore, coal and grain, has decreased by almost 55 percent in 2012.

For more of the Reuters story: www.reuters.com

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