Oct 16 (Reuters) – The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk sea freight index, which monitors rates for vessels moving dry bulk commodities, edged up on Thursday, driven by gains across all vessel segments. * The main index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, rose 49 points, or 2.5%, to 2,046 points. * On Tuesday, Washington and Beijing began charging additional port fees on ocean shipping firms that move everything from holiday toys to crude oil. * "Container freight rates are on a more positive trend, driven by disruption brought on by Chinese port fees just as US port fees took effect," analysts at Jefferies said in a note. * The capesize index rose 142 points, or 4.9%, to 3,058 points. * Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transport 150,000-ton cargoes such as iron ore and coal, increased by $1,173 to $25,358. * Dalian iron ore futures extended declines to hit a more than six-week low on Thursday, weighed down by the anticipation of falling demand in top consumer China. * The panamax index rose five points to 1,826 points, its highest since September 26. * Average daily earnings for panamax vessels, which usually carry 60,000-70,000 tons of coal or grain, rose by $47 to $16,433. * Among smaller vessels, the supramax index rose four points to 1,422 points. (Reporting by Pablo Sinha in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
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