The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks
rates to ship dry commodities, rose to its highest in over two weeks on
Wednesday, helped by iron ore cargo bookings to China.
The overall index rose 38 points or 2.06 percent to 1,884
points in a second day of gains. Prior to Tuesday's move higher, it had fallen
for two sessions.
Iron ore shipments account for around a third of seaborne
volumes on the larger capesizes, and brokers said price developments remained a
key factor for dry freight.
Iron ore rose to its highest in nearly a month as spot
prices gained for a 12th day in a row, with firmer steel prices in top consumer
China encouraging more buying of the raw material and helping it recover from
last month's slump.
Capesizes, which typically transport 150,000 tonne cargoes
such as iron ore and coal, had driven a recent rally helped by firmer coal and
iron ore exports from Australia and Brazil to China as well as a pick-up in
Japanese coal imports.
“(Capesize) tonnage lists are now looking fairly tight
in both basins, and we are still seeing good inquiry levels, which are looking
enough to support the market for the time being,” Greek broker Intermodal
said.
“This, however, seems to be only temporary as there are
many signs in the market of weakening demand for both iron ore and coal in the
fourth quarter.”
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