Baltic index rises on gains in smaller vessels

March 4 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk sea freight index (.BADI) rose on Friday on gains in the panamax and supramax vessel rates that also countered a small dip in the capesize segment.

* The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, rose 44 points to 2,148 points.

* The index rose for a second straight week, gaining 3.5%.

* The capesize index (.BACI) dropped 4 points to 1,635 points and fell about 3.3% this week.

* Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, decreased $36 to $13,560.

* Meanwhile, benchmark iron ore futures in China surged clocking their biggest weekly gain in more than two years at nearly 20% on supply disruption fears over the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

* The panamax index (.BPNI) was up 86 points, at 2,785 points.

* Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, increased $768 to $25,061.

* Among smaller vessels, the supramax index (.BSIS) rose 66 points to 2,586 points.

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