The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk index, which measures shipping rates for vessels carrying dry commodities, broke a two-day losing streak on Friday, climbing about 1.1% to 2,140 points, its highest level since January 30.
The capesize index — covering larger vessels that typically transport about 150,000-ton cargoes such as iron ore and coal — inched up 0.2% to 3,056 points. The panamax index, which reflects rates for ships that usually carry 60,000 to 70,000 tons of coal or grain, rose 1.4% to 1,942 points. Among the smaller vessel segments, the supramax index advanced 3% to 1,338 points.
Overall, the benchmark index gained 4.7% over the week but still ended the month down 1.4%.
