Jan 4 (Reuters) – The Baltic Exchange’s principal sea freight index, which tracks charges for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, fell on Monday inching close to all-time lows, dragged down by weak Chinese demand.

The total index, which gauges the price of transport cargoes together with iron ore, cement, grain and coal, fell 5 factors or 1.05 %, to 473 factors.

The index hit an all-time low of 471 factors on Dec. 16, the bottom in information that date again to January 1985.

China’s manufacturing facility exercise contracted for the tenth straight month in December and at a sharper tempo than in November, a personal survey confirmed, dampening hopes that the world’s second-largest economic system will enter 2016 on a extra secure footing.

Chinese rebar futures fell 0.7 % on the primary buying and selling day of 2016 regardless of rising spot costs, with underlying demand nonetheless weak.

Iron ore, the important thing ingredient for steelmaking, gave up early features as a world provide glut and shrinking demand in high client China is predicted to weigh on the commodity in 2016.

Chinese imports of coal and iron ore have remained weak in current months and worries over the well being of the worldwide economic system have additionally dented dry bulk transport prospects.

The panamax index gained 2 factors, or 0.43 %, at 464 factors.

Average every day earnings for panamaxes, which often carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, rose $14 to $3,706.

The capesize index, was up two factors at 472 factors, at the same time as common every day earnings decreased $154 to $4,811. Capesizes usually transport 150,000 tonne cargoes equivalent to iron ore and coal.

Among smaller vessels, the supramax index shed one level at 449 factors, and the handysize index slipped three factors to 267 factors. (Reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala in Bengaluru)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.