The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk sea freight index, which monitors rates for vessels moving dry bulk commodities, edged down on Friday and logged its steepest weekly decline in more than eight months.
The main index, which factors in rates for Capesize, Panamax and supramax shipping vessels, fell eight points to 1,901 points, its lowest since August 21.
The index was down 15.8 per cent for the week, marking its worst weekly drop since late January.
The Capesize index snapped a five-day losing streak, up four points at 2,724 points. The index, however, lost 24.9 per cent during the week.
Average daily earnings for Capesize vessels increased by $33 to $22,595.
The Panamax index lost 23 points to 1,662 points, its lowest since August 20. It slipped 9.3 per cent for the week.
Average daily earnings for Panamax vessels fell by $203 to $14,961.
Among smaller vessels, the supramax index eased nine points at 1,447 points. The index was down 2.2 per cent for the week.
(Reporting by Pablo Sinha in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
