Main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange gains to 1196 points

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities gained to 1196 points on Thursday mainly due to higher panamax and supramax rates.
The Baltic Dry Index, which provides an assessment of the price of moving the major raw materials – such as coal, iron ore and grain – by sea by taking in 23 shipping routes measured on a time charter basis, gained by 06 points to 1196 points on Thursday. 
After rising over the past few weeks, freight rates for shipping coal from northern China’s Qinhuangdao port to the other Chinese ports of Zhangjiagang, Shanghai and Guangzhou in eastern and southern China drifted in the week to Tuesday. 
While downstream demand for coal remained high, the retreat was a result of the continued rise in stocks at the northern seaports.