The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, edged lower on Monday on muted shipping activity. The index, which factors in average daily earnings of capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels, was down 2 points at 578 points. The capesize index shed six points to 460 points. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, fell by $41 to $4,231. The panamax index was up nine points at 609 points. Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry 60,000 to 70,000-tonne cargoes of coal or grain, rose $75 to $4,863. The handysize index was down four points at 369 points while the supramax index lost four points to 609 points.