28 JAN 2020
The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index fell to its lowest level since April 2016, dragged down by lower vessels rates across categories.
* The Baltic index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels ferrying dry bulk commodities, dropped 11 points, or 2.0%, to 546 — its lowest in over 3 years.
* The capesize index fell 30 points, or 18.2%, to 135.
* The index registered its 32nd consecutive session of losses, touching its lowest level since April 3 last year.
* Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes including iron ore and coal, fell $140 to $4,632.
* “The dry bulk shipping market will soften in the first quarter of 2020 before rebounding due to growth in Brazilian exports and very low fleet growth,” Randy Giveans, vice-president, equity research at Jefferies said in a note.
* The panamax index fell 18 points, or 2.6%, to 673.
* Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, dropped $162 to $6,054.
* The supramax index shed 1 point to 542.