Baltic Dry Index Up for 2nd Day

The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, advanced for a second session on Friday, rising about 1% to 3,370 points. The capesize index, which typically transports 150,000-ton cargoes, including iron ore and coal, surged by 2% to 5,768 points; and the supramax index went up by 0.3% to 1,767 points. Conversely, the panamax index, which usually carries 60,000 to 70,000 tons of coal or grain, extended its decline, falling by 1.4% to 2,251 points. For the week, the benchmark index declined nearly 4%.