Saturday, 13 October 2012 | 00:00
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry commodities, rose on Friday as rates for capesizes and panamaxes increased.
The overall index, which reflects daily freight market prices for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels, rose 2.55 percent to 926 points. The index gained nearly 5 percent this week.
The Baltic's capesize index rose 4.42 percent to 1,914 points.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which usually transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were up $703 at $11,074.
In the single voyage market, the average earnings for capesizes are now $14,500 per day, RS Platou Markets analysts said in a note.
"Operators can earn a healthy margin by chartering in vessels and trading spot," RS Platou analysts said.
"While traders such as Cargill were indeed active, the global miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were the main contributors to the rising rates, in our view, as they combined chartered another 6-7 capesize vessels yesterday."
Spot iron ore prices in top importer China steadied on Friday after a rally earlier this week spurred caution among buyers worried that demand in the world's top steel consumer might not rebound significantly. ΕΎ
Iron ore shipments account for around a third of seaborne volumes on the larger capesizes, and brokers said price developments remained a key factor for dry freight.
The panamax index rose 3.32 percent to 871 points, with average daily earnings up $221 at $6,937.
Panamaxes typically transport 60,000-70,000-tonne cargoes of coal or grain.
Increasing thermal coal fixtures and grain shipments strengthened panamax rates, analysts said.
Average daily earnings for handysize ships were up $1 at $6,536, while those of supramax ships were down $82 at $8,110.
Source: Reuters
