March 9 (Reuters) – The Baltic Exchange’s predominant sea freight index, monitoring charges for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose on Wednesday, helped by stronger demand for panamaxes and smaller vessels.

The general index that gauges the price of transport cargoes together with iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser, was up 10 factors, or 2.73 p.c, to 376 factors.

The panamax index rose 25 factors, or, 5.92 p.c to 447 factors.

Average every day earnings for panamaxes, which normally carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, climbed $200 to $3,593.

Among smaller vessels, the supramax index gained 13 factors to 399 factors, and the handysize index was up three factors at 243 factors.

The capesize index, which had recovered just a little on Tuesday after hitting a document low of 161 factors on Monday, slipped 2 factors, or 1.11 p.c, to 178 factors.

Average every day earnings for capesizes, which usually transport 150,000-tonne cargoes, fell $34 to $2,252 on Wednesday. Iron ore shipments account for round a 3rd of seaborne volumes on the bigger capesizes. (Reporting by Apeksha Nair in Bengaluru)

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