LONDON (Bloomberg) — Commodity shipping rates measured by the Baltic Dry Index ended their longest losing streak in almost 15 years on speculation owners are refusing to offer vessels at current hire rates.

The index rose 20 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,720 points, according to the Baltic Exchange in London. That ended a run of 35 consecutive drops, the longest since November 1995. Daily rates for capesizes, typically iron-ore carriers and the biggest tracked by the gauge, gained 3.5 percent to $12,495.

"The underlying market has gone a long way down," Philippe van den Abeele, London-based managing director of Castalia Fund Management (U.K.) Ltd., said by phone. "At $12,000 or thereabouts on capes, there will be owners who will say I'm not showing ships, I'm not giving rates."

The market weakened as new ships entered the fleet, swelling supply, and on a reduction in Chinese imports of iron ore. The steelmaking raw material accounted for 29 percent of all dry-bulk goods hauled at sea in the first quarter, according to Drewry Shipping Consultants Ltd. in London.

Total bulk fleet capacity will grow 16 percent this year, twice the rate of demand, according to Clarkson Plc, the world's biggest shipbroker. Iron-ore imports by China, the biggest user of the commodity, will decline this year for the first time since 1998, Mysteel Research Institute forecasts. Imports fell in April, May and June compared with the previous month, according to customs data.