Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The cost of shipping commodities such as iron ore and coal fell to its lowest in more than five months because of a buildup of vessels available for hire in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

The Baltic Dry Index fell 45 points, or 2 percent, to 2169 points today, the lowest since Aug. 15, according to London's Baltic Exchange. The index is heading for its second consecutive weekly decline.

``It is becoming doubtful whether a significant increase in activity can be expected until Chinese New Year holidays are over and ore prices for 2006 have been agreed,'' Oslo-based shipbroker Fearnleys AS said in a report today.

The Lunar New Year holiday in Asia begins Jan. 30. Cia Vale do Rio Doce, the world's largest iron-ore mining company, and other producers are negotiating annual price contracts with steels mills in Japan and China.

Capesizes, the largest dry-bulk ships, deliver iron ore and coking coal, used to make steel, and thermal coal burned in power plants, from producers such as Melbourne-based BHP Billiton, the world's biggest mining company, and Brazil's Vale.

Freight rates for the vessels moving cargo to China from Australia, the world's biggest iron ore and coal exporter, fell 19 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $8.15 a metric ton, according to the Baltic Exchange.

On the Brazil-to-China route, shipping costs for capesizes fell 1.3 percent to $21.23 a ton. Capesizes hold as much as 170,000 tons of cargo.

Revenue for capesize ships, the largest to carry dry-bulk goods in the single-voyage market, may average $32,000 a day this year on benchmark trade routes, according to a Bloomberg survey last month. The figures are after vessel operators have paid costs such as fuel and port fees.

Rates for the vessels transporting coal to the Netherlands from South Africa's Richards Bay, the world's second-biggest coal-export port, fell 1.4 percent to $10.83 a ton, according to the Baltic Exchange.

South Africa is the world's fourth-largest exporter of coal used in power plants, after Australia, Indonesia and China.

To contact the reporter on this story: Saijel Kishan in London at at skishan@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 19, 2006 10:21 EST