The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index fell for the sixth consecutive session on Thursday to mark its worst day since mid-September, as rates slipped across all vessel segments.

The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, and supramax shipping vessels, fell 55 points, or about 3%, to 1,818.

The capesize index fell 105 points, or about 4.8%, to 2,094.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as coal and steel making ingredient iron ore used in construction, fell $876 to $17,365.

Iron ore futures dipped, with the Dalian benchmark hitting a three-week low, as hopes faded for China to relax its stringent zero-COVID policy, while waning demand for the steelmaking ingredient dragged spot prices to an 11-month low.

The panamax index lost 59 points, or 2.8%, to a 10-day low of 2,088.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, dropped $527 to $18,796.

“Some spoke of certain grain trips paying a premium over mineral trades, but a wide bid/offer gap curtailed any decent activity,” shipbroker Fearnleys said on its website, referring to the panamax segment.

The supramax index was down 12 points at 1,696.

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose on Thursday after rates for bigger vessel segments snapped their losing streaks, with capesize seeing its best day in over two years.

The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax shipping vessels, was up 37 points, or 3.8%, at 1,002 points. It was the index’s best day in 1-1/2 months.

The capesize index snapped a five-session decline, gaining 167 points, or 55.3 %, at 469 points, on its best day since June 2020.

Meanwhile, Dalian iron ore surrendered its gains from an earlier rebound on Thursday, pressured by worries over fresh COVID-19 restrictions and property sector troubles in China squeezing demand for ferrous metals.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, rose$1,382 to $3,887.

The panamax index snapped an over a month-long losing streak, gaining 13 points, or about 1.1%, at 1,230 points.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, rose $113 to $11,069.

Earlier on Thursday, Baltic Exchange and Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange inked a memorandum of understanding to work together on research and development of a futures contract settling against the Baltic Panamax Index in China.

Among smaller vessels, the supramax index fell 67 points to 1,559 points, its lowest in over 18 months.

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index registered its worst fall in three months on Thursday, weighed down by lower demand for coal and iron ore cargoes as steel output fell in China.

The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, fell 90 points, or about 7.4%, to 1,123 points, a fresh low since Dec. 9, 2020.

“Current uncertainties in the global economy, along with the much higher commodity prices, especially for coal, are not doing the market any favours,” said Niels Rasmussen, chief shipping analyst at BIMCO.

“This would be a fairly strong additional indicator that the prospects for the global economy for the next month or two are not looking up at least,” he added.

The capesize index fell 206 points, or about 30.3%, to 474 points, hitting a low since early June 2020.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, fell $1,705 to $3,931.

Crude steel output from China, the world’s top producer and consumer of the metal, dropped 6.4% to 81.4 million tonnes in July, World Steel Association data showed on Tuesday.

“It’s going to take some moves, more than likely in China, to really spur demand to come and see some strong improvements for the rest of the year,” Rasmussen added.

The panamax index continued its month-long losing streak, shedding 67 points, or 4.5%, at 1,424 points.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, decreased $606 to $12,816.

The supramax index snapped its nine-session winning streak, falling 10 points to 1,763 points.