Jan 8 (Reuters) – The Baltic Exchange’s foremost sea freight index, which tracks charges for ships carrying industrial commodities, continued its run of file lows on Friday, haunted by diminished China imports.

Demand woes throughout all vessel segments continued to hang-out the index, which registered a file low for a fourth session working.

The general index, gauging the price of transport dry bulk cargoes together with iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser, fell 3.6 p.c to 429 factors.

The downturn in dry bulk transport has worsened considerably in current months as demand for iron ore and coal has declined within the face of slower financial progress in China.

“The first part of the year is typically the weakest point for dry bulk freight rates, which have been even weaker considering the low base at which they ended 2015,” Clarkson Capital Markets’ Omar Nokta stated in a notice.

The capesize index was down greater than 14 p.c at 343 factors, with common day by day earnings dropping by $380 to $3,818. Capesize vessels sometimes transport 150,000-tonne cargoes akin to iron ore and coal.

Chinese iron ore futures slumped by greater than 2 p.c to their lowest in additional than per week within the expectation that cuts to metal manufacturing on the earth’s prime producer will dent demand for the uncooked materials.

The panamax index fell 16 factors, or 3.56 p.c, to 434 factors.

Average day by day earnings for panamax vessels, which normally carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, decreased by $129 to $3,466.

(Reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala in Bengaluru; Editing by David Goodman)

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