Falling demand and oversupply of vessels pushed the Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying industrial commodities, to a new all-time low on Thursday. The overall index, which gauges the cost of shipping dry bulk including iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser, fell 12 points or 3.56 percent to 325 points. The dry bulk sector has taken a beating from a slowdown in Chinese business and is struggling with huge over-capacity. “At these levels owners would rather park their ships than carry on bleeding money, and rumours of laid up assets have been rife in the past couple of weeks,” shipbroking firm Braemar said in its latest research note. However, Braemar said these ships threaten to re-appear as soon as rates improve, keeping a lid on earnings. The capesize index fell 19 points or 8.09 percent to 216 points. Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, decreased by $212 to $2,851. The panamax index dropped 10 points or 3.3 percent to a record low of 293 points. Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, fell $80 to $2,348.