Genco Shipping & Trading plans to put most of its bulker fleet into the Atlantic basin in the next two months as it forecasts robust iron ore demand from China.
The New York-listed owner had most of its fleet in the Indian and Pacific oceans off and around Africa, China and Australia as of Thursday, according to VesselsValue.
It had 12 ships in the Atlantic basin but plans to send "a major piece" of its sub-capesize fleet there in early to mid-April.
Genco has 17 capesizes, 15 supramaxes and nine ultramaxes after completing the divestiture side of its fleet renewal programme.
"We think the Atlantic is going to continue to be very strong, so we're going to have probably about 75% of our minor bulk fleet positioned in that basin to enable us to take advantage of it," chief executive John Wobensmith said during an earnings call with analysts.
He also implied that capesize rates will rebound as Brazil exits the rainy season and mine maintenance period, while China ramps up construction after the Chinese New Year.
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"That should all, from a seasonal standpoint, get back to normal run rates by mid to late March," he said.
"If you look at what is going on in China from a seasonal standpoint, construction usually tends to pick up as we get into April."
Wobensmith noted that China still has low inventories of high-priced iron ore that will need to be replenished as it continues to make steel, which should help boost rates for all dry bulk asset classes, especially capesizes.
Panamax rates have been above capesize rates since mid-January, beating them by 63% at $19,868 per day on Thursday.
"We should start to get into this as we get into April," he said.
"I think there's a lot of factors from a seasonal standpoint and from demand outstripping supply growth this year."
