April 14 (Reuters) – The Baltic Exchange’s major sea freight index monitoring charges for ships carrying dry bulk commodities prolonged positive aspects on Thursday, primarily propelled by firmer demand for larger transport vessels.

The general index, which components in charges for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize transport vessels, climbed 30 factors, or 5.29 p.c to 597 factors.

The capesize index rose 87 factors, or about 12 p.c, to 831 factors, its highest this yr.

Average day by day earnings for capesizes, which generally transport 150,000-tonne cargoes similar to iron ore and coal, rose $669 to $6,184.

A wholesome quantity of iron ore reserving exercise on the again of stronger Chinese metal costs has been the primary driver of the advance for capesizes, ship brokerage agency Clarksons Platou mentioned in word on Thursday. Shipments of iron ore account for a few third of sea-borne volumes on the bigger capesizes.

The panamax index was up 22 factors, or 3.24 p.c, at 700 factors.

Average day by day earnings for panamaxes, which normally carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, rose $170 to $5,577 on Thursday.

Among smaller vessels, the supramax index rose 8 factors to 514 factors, and the handysize index was up 13 factors at 309 factors. (Reporting by Apeksha Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Koustav Samanta)

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