FX.co ★ Baltic Dry Index Halts 3-Day Winning Run

The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk sea freight index, which monitors the rates for ships transporting dry commodities, experienced a decline after a three-day upward trend, dropping 40 points to reach a near one-week low of 1,923 points on Thursday. This downward movement was primarily attributed to the larger vessel segment. Specifically, the capesize index, responsible for transporting approximately 150,000-ton cargoes such as iron ore and coal, fell by 138 points to 2,786 points, ending its four-day streak of increases. Meanwhile, the supramax index continued its decline for the tenth consecutive day, decreasing by 8 points to 1,403 points. On the other hand, the panamax index, which typically carries between 60,000 to 70,000 tons of coal or grain, saw an increase of 35 points, reaching an over one-week high of 1,730 points. "Overall market sentiment still suggests that a downward correction is likely in the coming month. Once the immediate post-holiday activity subsides, the underlying fundamentals and some seasonal weaknesses may begin to impact rates again," noted Yiannis Parganas from Intermodal.