Baltic Dry Index Pulls Back

The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, fell about 1.3% to 3,426 points on Friday, following a 1.2% rise in the prior session, pressured by the bigger-size segment. The capesize index, which typically transports 150,000-ton cargoes, including iron ore and coal, slumped by 2.6% to 5,784 points. On the other hand, the panamax index, which usually carries 60,000 to 70,000 tons of coal or grain, rose by 1.1% to 2,407 points; and the supramax index went up by 0.2% to 1,786 points. For the week, the benchmark index increased by 1.6%.