Thoresen Shipping says it has posted its “best profit in a decade” in the second quarter as the Thai bulker owner continued to reap the rewards of the strong dry bulk markets.
The Singapore-based owner said its average time charter equivalent (TCE) rate during the quarter was $18,330 per day with gains from both owned and chartered-in vessels. The highest TCE rate achieved was $37,748 per day.
Thoresen said the Baltic Supramax Index reached an average of 2,322 points during the second quarter, compared with an average of 1,512 points in the first three months of 2021.
Time charter rates for supramax bulkers reached an 11-year high above $30,000 per day in mid-June, resulting in an average market rate of $25,538 per day during the quarter.
Thoresen, which owns a fleet of 22 supramaxes and two ultramaxes, said net profit for the quarter was THB 671.6m ($18.6m), a near 15-fold increase on 12 months ago.
The shipowner said freight revenues during the quarter were THB 2.68bn, almost two-and-a-half times that of a year ago on the back of rising freight rates.
Despite the strong markets and 100% fleet utilisation, Thoresen said vessel operating expenses “remained low” at $4,168 per day, 7% lower than what it described as “the industry average” of $4,503 per day.
However, it was an increase of 18% year-on-year due to a continued rise in expenses related to crew changes due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The surging demand for infrastructure-related commodities such as coal and iron ore are likely to help drive the dry bulk market rally into the third quarter, with freight levels and time charter earnings setting new records,” said Chalermchai Mahagitsiri, chief executive of parent company Thoresen Thai Agencies.
“The dry bulk market has been on a firm rebound since the beginning of 2021 and market participants expect the trend to continue in the upcoming quarter.
“Dry bulk trade volumes are currently projected to grow 4.6% in tonne-miles while fleet expansion looks limited and is projected to slow to 3.3% in deadweight tonnes.”
Mahagitsiri added that the market also sees further steady improvements into 2022 with approximately 2% demand growth and just 1.4% fleet growth.
Thoresen has had a relatively quiet 2021 in the sale-and-purchase market with no reported buys of secondhand bulkers.
Last year, the company acquired three bulkers, including two from US-listed shipowner Scorpio Bulkers.
