The Baltic Exchangeās main sea freight index (.BADI), tracking rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities, rose on Friday and logged its best month in 2 years propelled by a corresponding rise in capesize and panamax demand.
The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, snapped its four-session long streak of declines to gain 3 points to 1,760. It jumped about 82.4% for the month, its best since June 2020.
However, the main index registered a second straight quarterly dip, shedding 21.4%.
The capesize index (.BACI) also snapped a four-day long losing streak and added 1 point to 1,955. For the month, it soared 547%, logging its best performance since June 2020.
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Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as coal and steel-making ingredient iron ore used in construction, were up $12 at $16,214.
Capesizes still lost about 20% for the quarter, in part due to waning demand from top steel producer China amid COVID-19 lockdowns over the period.
Dalian and Singapore iron ore marked their second quarterly losses, despite some gains on Friday, as worries over a stringent zero-COVID policy and property sector jitters in China continued to dominate markets.
The panamax index (.BPNI) rose 19 points, or about 1%, to 2,082. It rose 71% on its best month since September 2013.
However, it also saw its second straight quarterly decline of about 16.2%.
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Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, increased $175to $18,742.
The supramax index (.BSIS) fell 11 points to 1,663.
Source: Reuters
