Pan Ocean has seen its second quarter net profit almost double compared to a year ago, figures released Tuesday show.
The South Korean shipowner booked net income of $34.65m versus the $17.8m achieved in the corresponding quarter in 2017.
Revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% year-on-year to $630.1m. However, costs increased by a similar percentage to $566.4m.
“After weak market conditions for the past few years, fleet growth increased marginally in the first half of 2018,” said Pan Ocean.
“In contrast, the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) averaged 1,217 points in the first half of 2018, 25% higher than the average of 975 points seen in the first half of last year.
“In addition, this figure is 6.3% higher than the BDI average annual rate in the previous year. For this reason, the market is expected to improve for the remaining period of 2018.
“On the supply side, newbuilding orders for dry bulk carrier declined in 2015 and 2016 due to the downturn in the shipping market.
“Because of this, the newbuilding deliveries reached 14.8mdwt, which was 47% down on the 28mdwt seen in the first half of 2017.”
At the end of the second quarter Pan Ocean was controlling a fleet of around 207 vessels of which 127 was chartered-in tonnage.
The majority of its fleet, some 180 vessels are bulkers, made up of 39 capesizes, 61 panamaxes, 65 handylaxes and 35 handysizes.
