The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying industrial commodities, stretched its run of record lows to the 13th straight session on Thursday amid a vessel glut and weak demand. The overall index, which gauges the cost of shipping dry bulk including iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser, fell three points, or 0.84 percent, to 355 points. The dry bulk sector has taken a beating from the slowdown in Chinese business at a time when the sector is struggling with huge overcapacity. The capesize index, however, rose for the second consecutive session, gaining 20 points, or 10.75 percent, to 206 points. Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, increased by $102 to $2,808. The panamax index shed nine points to record a new all-time low of 346 points. Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, fell $112 to $2,764. Data this week showing China’s economy grew in 2015 at its slowest pace in a quarter of a century did not inject any optimism in an already battered sentiment, ship broker Fearnley said in a note on Wednesday, referring to the panamax segment in particular. “For spot activity the overwhelming supply is outperforming the demand to an extent hardly seen before.”