Malaysian Bulk Carriers (Maybulk) booked a profit of MYR 98m ($23m) from the disposal of three ships, boosting its nine-month results.
The Robert Kuok-backed shipowner secured total net proceeds of MYR 270m from the sale of the 58,000-dwt bulkers Alam Molek and Alam Madu (both built 2014) and the 33,300-dwt Alam Sejahtera (built 2016).
In early September, TradeWinds reported that Meghna Industries of Bangladesh had emerged as the buyer of the two supramaxes, while the handysize was reported sold to Turkish owner GSD Marin in mid-July.
The gains helped Kuala Lumpur-based Maybulk post a profit for the first nine months of MYR 160.6m, versus the MYR 29m a year earlier.
The results were also boosted by an increase in charter rates, lower operating expenses from a smaller fleet and the redelivery of two loss-making chartered-in vessels.
Maybulk's fleet earned an average time charter equivalent of $17,225 per day, per ship for January to September, a 114% year-on-year increase.
Meanwhile, hire days were reduced year on year by 36% to 1,928, due to the vessel disposals.
Maybulk said the global economy has experienced a firm rebound this year and seaborne dry bulk trade is expected to grow at 1.7% in 2022.
"This rebound in the dry bulk market has seen freight rates hit a decade high and this has been exacerbated through stringent Covid-19 protocols enforced at various ports, particularly in China, creating supply chain bottlenecks," it said.
Changes to trade patterns, such as Chinese coal sourcing, have been accretive in tonne-mile terms.
"All these factors are set against a backdrop of historically low fleet growth due to the poor dry bulk market in the last decade," the company said.
"However, dry bulk charter rates have softened notably since late October, with China restricting steel output as well as imposing [a] cap on coal prices for domestic suppliers."
Maybulk said sale-and-purchase activities have also slowed down, with potential buyers holding back in expectation of a correction in asset prices.
"Whilst port congestion and logistics inefficiencies are still present, we expect freight rates to remain volatile going into 2022, with global growth likely to slow down from 2021 levels."
