FX.co ★ Baltic Dry Index at Over 1-Week High, Books Weekly Gain

The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk sea freight index, an indicator for the rates of shipping dry commodities, increased for a second consecutive day on Friday, climbing approximately 6% to reach 1,388 points—its highest level since May 6. This rise was driven by higher rates across all types of vessels. Specifically, the capesize index, which handles cargoes of around 150,000 tons such as iron ore and coal, soared by 14% to 2,018 points. Meanwhile, the panamax index, representing vessels that typically carry 60,000-70,000 tons of coal or grains, increased slightly by 3 points to 1,290 points. Among the smaller vessel categories, the supramax index saw a modest increase of 3 points, reaching 978 points. Overall, the benchmark index recorded a weekly increase of 7%.