LONDON—The Baltic Dry index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, declined for the first time this month as demand weakened on national holidays in Asia and Europe.

The index tracking transport costs on international trade routes retreated 17 points, or 0.2 percent, to 10,220 points, according to the Baltic Exchange in London late Monday. Markets in Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Hong Kong, South Korea and Switzerland were closed for public holidays.

“It is quiet overall” because of the vacations, Philippe van den Abeele, London-based managing director of Castalia Fund Management (UK) Ltd., said by phone Monday. “I don’t think we have seen the last of the bull market, there is nothing fundamentally changed.”

The index posted its fifth consecutive weekly gain on May 9 and is 7.4- percent short of a record reached on November 13. Chinese stockpiling of iron ore for steelmaking has driven demand for ships. The country held a record 62 million metric tons of the material at the end of April, a 40- percent increase from the same point last year, according to data carried by Bloomberg.

A decline in capesizes, vessels that carry loads of as much as 170,000 tons, was balanced in the Baltic index by gains for smaller handysizes. As bigger vessels become more expensive to hire it can be more economical to split a cargo and charter two or more cheaper, smaller ships to carry it.

Cargo stocks at ports in Argentina may decline this week after farmers sought to extend a strike begun on May 7 that has cut the number of trucks arriving at port. The country is the world’s second-largest corn exporter and third in soybeans. The farmers are seeking support for their action against tax increases from provincial leaders and lawmakers.

The farmers’ three-week protest, suspended on April 2, led to food shortages, canceled cargoes and vessels diverted to Brazil. (Bloomberg)

Rerouting around Naia begins May 15

STARTING May 15, cargo trucks, buses and tricycles plying the Domestic Road and Andrews Avenue leading to the Manila Domestic Airport and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) are advised to take alternate routes on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa), Roxas Boulevard or the Diosdado Macapagal Avenue, as authorities are in the process of easing traffic in these highly congested areas around the premier airport.

A NEW Caledonian shipping firm has placed an ordered for a high-speed aluminum catamaran vessel from FBMA Marine Inc., a unit of the Aboitiz Transport System Corp.

HONG KONG—Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., two of the world’s three largest shipyards, fell after Merrill Lynch & Co. lowered their ratings on concern of slower orders in the second half.

LONDON—The Baltic Dry index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, declined for the first time this month as demand weakened on national holidays in Asia and Europe.

TOKYO—Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., Japan’s second-largest shipping line by sales, will exceed its first-half operating profit forecast by “several billion yen” as it charges more to transport coal and iron ore.