Charter rates for Panamax ships that carry grains and coal fell for a 25th session amid slowing demand for cargoes of raw materials.

Daily average hire costs slid 2.1 percent to $6,539, the lowest since Feb. 14, according to the Baltic Exchange in London, which publishes shipping prices on more than 50 maritime routes. Two more sessions of drops would match a run of declines through Feb. 2, 2012, figures compiled by Bloomberg show. Each of the 750-foot-long ships can haul about 75,000 metric tons.

A lack of cargoes in the Pacific region curbed Panamax rates, Oslo-based investment bank RS Platou Markets AS said in an e-mailed report. Hire costs plunged 32 percent since the losing streak began April 23, the worst performance among the four types of mineral- and grain-hauling ships tracked by the Baltic Dry Index. (BDIY)

“Panamax rates continue to suffer due to very weak coal demand,” Dominic Meredith Hardy, an analyst at Galbraith’s Ltd., a London-based shipbroker, said by e-mail.

The index fell 0.5 percent to 818, according to the exchange, the 14th drop in a row. Charter costs for Capesizes, the largest vessels in the gauge, added 0.7 percent to $5,294 even as iron ore, a steelmaking raw material and the ships’ main cargo, retreated to the lowest level since October, according to figures from The Steel Index Ltd.

“Capes seem to be suffering a similar fate, as fears that the Chinese economic recovery is stalling have dampened demand for iron ore,” Hardy said.

Capesize rates are still down 16 percent from May 8, the last session before a run of nine straight declines. Iron ore declined 13 percent since that date at the current price of $112.90 a dry ton.

Daily average charter rates for Supramax vessels that are about 25 percent smaller than Panamaxes added 0.1 percent to $8,980, according to the exchange. Handysizes, the smallest ships in the index, slipped 0.3 percent to $8,037.