The supramax bulker sector has risen and should continue improving off higher demand for grain and coal, but progress will most likely be slow and steady, Eagle Bulk chief executive Gary Vogel said.

His comment came as the Supramax 10TC basket of spot-rate averages across 10 key routes has dipped to $12,500 per day on Friday from a peak of $14,700 per day in late March, after it rose from a bottom of $7,000 per day in mid-February, according to Baltic Exchange data.

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“It’s not particularly exciting where we are, but we are seeing demand growth this year, which is important against last year, which was one of the two negative years in the last 22 [years],” he said on Friday on a first-quarter earnings call with analysts.

“So, there’s definitely positive momentum here, but it’s taking time … on a tonne-mile basis.”

Eagle Bulk owns 25 supramaxes and 28 ultramaxes. It reported a $3.2m profit for the first quarter on Thursday, down from a $53.1m profit posted during the same quarter in 2022.

The New York-listed bulker owner is “seeing good demand overall” because China’s imports of Brazilian soybeans and Indonesian coal have risen in the first quarter as the country recovers from the pandemic, he said.

“We all expected it was going to take time for the economy to come back and their stimulus, but that takes time to work through the system,” he said.

But the extremely low orderbook for supramaxes and ultramaxes gives good reason for long-term optimism, Vogel said.

“I say it all the time. … In my career now 35 years — it’s always about supply,” he said.

“And the orderbook is just incredible — really low against that rapidly ageing fleet.”

There are 1,934 supramaxes on the water and another 39 supramaxes in the orderbook, according to online valuation platform VesselsValue. There are 1,514 active ultramaxes and 275 ultramaxes on order.

He also noted that the futures market for supramaxes is in contango. June contracts picked up $950 per day to reach nearly $20,100 per day by midday Friday New York time, according to Braemar Atlantic Securities.

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