Baltic index touches over 1-month low on weak demand across vessels
June 8 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index extended losses to hit a more than one-month low on Wednesday, pressured by lower rates across all vessel segments.
* The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, lost 104 points, or 4.1%, to 2,410 points.
* The capesize index fell 211 points, or about 7.9%, to 2,457 points.
* Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were down $1,748 at $20,380.
* A drop-off in grain shipments led by closures of Ukrainian ports and China's strict zero-COVID policy have "naturally caused a reduction in both activity and demand", BIMCO's chief shipping analyst, Niels Rasmussen, said in a note.
* China accounts for around 35% of global cargo demand, he added.
* The panamax index dropped 68 points, or 2.4%, to 2,747 points.
* Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, decreased by $616 to $24,723.
* Iron ore futures in Asia fell with the key Dalian contract extending losses to a second session, as reduced profitability at Chinese steel mills following a recent rally in prices of steelmaking ingredients weighed on sentiment.
* The supramax index lost 47 points to 2,585 points.
(Reporting by Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
