Continuously declining! The freight rates of large bulk carriers have dropped again
The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk shipping index (tracking the freight rates of ships carrying dry bulk commodities) fell to a nearly three week low on Wednesday, dragged down by weak rates for cape and Panamax ships.
The index takes into account the freight rates of Cape of Good Hope, Panamax, and Supramax vessels, falling 72 points to 1509 points, the lowest level since November 8th.
The Cape Ship Index fell 210 points to 2569, the lowest level in over two weeks.
The average daily revenue of cape type ships that typically transport 150000 tons of goods such as iron ore and coal decreased by $1747 to $21302.
On Wednesday, iron ore futures prices strengthened for the third consecutive trading day, as stronger steel production offset a series of weak economic data from China, the largest consumer country.
The Panamax bulk carrier index fell 12 points to 1044 points, marking the ninth consecutive trading day of decline.
The average daily revenue of Panamax ships, which typically carry 60000-70000 tons of coal or grain cargo, decreased by $107 to $9396.
In small vessels, the index of ultra agile ships rose slightly by 3 points to 988 points.