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LONDON—The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs
for commodities, posted a fourth consecutive gain as
coal and iron-ore shippers took advantage of rates that
fell to a six-month low last week.
The
index tracking transport costs on international trade
routes advanced 65 points, or 0.9 percent, to 7,622
points, according to the Baltic Exchange in London.
Rates fell for 23 consecutive days through August 12,
the longest slide in three years, and rates remain 8.6
percent down this month.
“I don’t
see an extreme bull run,” Kjetil Sjuve, a director at
Oslo-based shipbroker Lorentzen & Stemoco AS, said by
phone. “It’s more a reaction from the longer downward
correction.”
Benchmark coal prices for Europe and Asia rose last week
on concerns global supplies may struggle to meet demand.
South Korea’s Posco was among companies renting vessels
today, according to the Baltic Exchange. The company
said on July 23 it intends to boost crude-steel output
by 29 percent to meet rising demand from shipbuilders
and automakers.
Posco
will rent an unidentified ship from Korean Line Corp. to
sail from Port Headland to Kwangyang, South Korea, from
September 11 to September 20, the exchange said.
Rates
for vessels that typically haul as much as 180,000
metric tons of coal and iron ore, known as capesizes,
rose 0.9 percent, to $141,304 a day. Investors bet those
prices will advance to $159,500 in the fourth quarter,
according to forward freight agreements data from
Oslo-based broker Imarex NOS ASA.
Forward
freight agreements (FFAs) are bought and sold by
investors hedging or speculating on future costs of
shipping commodities.
Rentals
for smaller panamax ships that carry grains rose 1.3
percent to $51,910 a day. FFAs signaled a rise to
$67,875 a day for the fourth quarter. (Bloomberg) |
