Greek shipowner John Hadjipateras is hopeful a sustained upturn in the VLGC market has arrived.
Dorian chief executive Hadjipateras says the past two months have delivered spot earnings at the highest level since the end of the super-cycle in early 2016.
“We are cautiously optimistic about a sustained improvement in rates as North American LPG export capacity is forecast to grow considerably over the next two years,” he said as Dorian reported its fourth quarter accounts today.
Analysts at Clarksons Platou Securities placed VLGC rates at $44,100 per day on Thursday.
So far this year, earnings on the ships have averaged $23,900 per day, well up on the $13,500 per day across the whole of 2018, according to analysts led by Frode Morkedal.
“We already have two ships which are fitted with exhaust equipment and plan to have more than half our fleet take advantage of the expected fuel price differentials," Hadjipateras added.
“Our teams have worked diligently over the last eighteen months to prepare for the impending IMO 2020 changes and further enhance our fleet's competitive position."
Dorian logged a loss of $16m in the three months to the end of March, the final quarter in its 2019 financial year.
Its loss per share of $0.22 was wider than the $0.11 per share Bloomberg consensus.
Noah Parquette of JP Morgan said the miss we primarily due to a lower top line, with costs in line with forecasts.
Dorian said the additional volumes out of Marcus Hook pushed US exports record levels early this year, while the market in the East has been tightened by Opec cuts and US sanctions on Iran.
Strong Indian imports have also helped the market, while the VLGC orderbook down to 38 vessels for delivery through until the end of 2021.
