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Baltic index continues to sink, touches 6-month low

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index slid for a 12th straight session on Thursday, hitting a six-month low, as reduced seasonal demand dragged down vessel rates across segments.

The Baltic index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels that ferry dry bulk commodities, dropped 70 points, or 5.7%, to 1,151 — its lowest level since June 19.

The capesize index declined 127 points, or 6%, to 1,976 — the lowest in over six months.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes including iron ore and coal, fell $1,120 to $14,575.

General activity has slowed down from Australia and Brazil, an Oslo-based shipping analyst said.

Also, the coal trade in the Pacific has become less active this week, after a pretty busy time over the last 2-3 weeks, indicative of a seasonal slowdown towards the end of the year, the analyst added.

The panamax index fell 75 points, or 5.6%, to 1,265, marking its lowest level in three weeks.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, decreased $601 to $10,129.

The supramax index fell 21 points to 764.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Anjishnu Mondal in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)

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