The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index (.BADI) extended losses for the ninth straight session on Monday, weighed down by lower rates across vessel segments.

The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels carrying dry bulk commodities, fell 71 points, or about 4.6%, to its lowest since mid-September at 1,463.

The capesize index (.BACI) shed 111 points, or about 6.7%, at a six-week low of 1,559, extending its losing streak to nine sessions and finishing the month lower by one-fifth.

Average daily earnings for capesizes (.BATCA), which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as coal and steel-making ingredient iron ore used in construction, fell $919 to $12,933.

Dalian prices were set for their sharpest monthly drop since February 2020, as an unexpected fall in October factory activity in China added to a gloomy outlook for the world’s biggest steel producer.

The panamax index (.BPNI) dropped 72 points, or about 4%, to 1,745, its lowest in nearly two months. It logged its eighth consecutive daily decline and was down 16.2% on the month.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes (.BPWT), which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, dropped $647 to $15,703, suggesting Moscow had stopped short of reimposing a blockade that might have caused world hunger, despite suspending its participation in a U.N. programme to safely export grain from the war zone.

The supramax index (.BSIS) fell 46 points to 1,437, its lowest since February 2021.

Marex Media