Thoresen Thai Agencies (TTA) has given an upbeat assessment of its prospects for 2023 after posting a weak start to the financial year.
The Thai bulker and offshore player saw its first quarter net profit decline 78% year-on-year to THB 215m ($6.3m), in figures released Tuesday.
“Against the lower freight rate due to low season in the first quarter, Thoresen Shipping achieved a net TCE of $13,718 per day, outperforming the net supramax time charter rate of $9,662 by 42%,” said chief executive Chalermchai Mahagitsiri.
Despite this, TTA saw freight revenues decline 34% year-on-year to just over THB2bn. The owned fleet utilisation rate remained high at 100% with the highest TCE rate at $27,250 per day.
“Looking forward, we remain positive about the medium-term prospects for the dry bulk industry in the second quarter,” he added.
TTA said the outlook for the full-year 2023 seems “moderately balanced”, with Clarksons forecasting dry bulk trade growth of 1.8% in tons or 2.5% in ton-mile, while fleet expansion is projected at 2.4% in deadweight terms.
TTA said it expects global seaborne grain trades to firmly rebound by 3.1% due to solid demand in key regions and more robust Ukrainian, Brazilian, and US exports.
“Coal trades appear to be firm supported by the rebound of economic activity, steel demand, and strong coal imports demand from key regions such as India, China, and Europe,” the shipowner said.
“The minor bulk trade is projected to moderately recover (+0.8%), potentially supported by improved industrial trends in China and easing demand headwinds in other key economies; nonetheless, the possibility of more disruption remains for some Russia-exposed volumes, including forest products and fertilisers,” it added.
TTA’a fleet at the end of the quarter stood at 24 owned vessels - 22 supramaxes and two ultramaxes – with an average size of 55,913-dwt and an average age of 15 years.
Mermaid Maritime, TTA’s offshore arm, recorded an 11% year-on-year increase in revenue to THB1.48bn, mainly from the increasing vessel subsea-IRM and cable laying projects.
Mermaid Maritime’s performance was also boosted by subsea-IRM vessel utilisation rates increasing to 97% in the first quarter of 2023 against 46% 12 months earlier.
Mahagitsiri said Mermaid Maritime achieved several “key milestones” during the quarter including the award of a major multi-well contract and plugging and abandonment as well as decommissioning activities in the Gulf of Thailand and North Sea.
“We expect that this year, the offshore services sector will gain benefits from the increase of offshore investments in oil and gas exploration and production especially in Middle East,” he said.
Oslo-based Rystad Energy recently forecast that the Middle East’s spending in the offshore oil and gas sector will increase for at least the next three years from $33bn in 2023 to $41bn in 2025.
