The index rose 0.4 percent to 859, figures from the Baltic Exchange in London showed today. Daily average returns for Capesizes, the largest ships in the measure, climbed for a fourth day, gaining 2.6 percent to $4,512. Panamaxes, the second-biggest type of vessel tracked by the gauge, increased for a first session in 10.
Panamax rates are likely to stay profitable because of delays at South American ports amid a seasonal increase in grain production, Morgan Stanley said in a report March 25. That may help the index rebound from the first quarter, when it recorded the lowest average since the final three months of 1986 as the fleet expanded amid slowing demand for commodities.
There was “good South American cargo supply toward the end of this month dominating Atlantic Panamax activity,” Oslo-based investment bank RS Platou Markets AS said in an e-mailed report today. “Brokers report limited rate movements with Australian iron exports dominating Capesize activity.”
Daily average charter costs for Panamaxes, the largest vessels to navigate the Panama Canal, rose 0.2 percent to $8,640, according to the exchange. Supramaxes slipped 0.2 percent to $9,415 and Handysizes, the smallest ships in the index, gained 0.1 percent to $7,712.