The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, which measures rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, inched up on Thursday and recorded its strongest monthly performance since February.

The main index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, rose 8 points, or 0.4%, to 2,003 points. It was up over 34% for the month.

The capesize index gained 53 points, or 1.7%, to 3,239 and logged a monthly rise.

Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transport 150,000-ton cargoes such as iron ore and coal, increased $436 to $26,858.

“The capesize segment is expected to outperform the smaller segments in the dry bulk fleet during 2025 and 2026,” said Filipe Gouveia, shipping analysis manager at BIMCO.

“It will likely benefit from China’s growing demand for bauxite and the expansion of iron ore mining projects in the South Atlantic,” Gouveia added.

Iron ore futures prices declined for a second straight session to hit their lowest levels in two weeks, as weaker-than-expected July factory activity data in top consumer China raised demand concerns.

The panamax index fell 30 points, or 1.8%, to 1,659. However, the index climbed 10.6% in July.

Average daily earnings for panamax vessels, which usually carry 60,000-70,000 tons of coal or grain, was down by $274 to $14,929.

Among smaller vessels, the supramax index lost 3 points, or 0.2%, to 1,268, its lowest level since mid July.
Source: Reuters