Western Bulk in black despite Q1 supramax cool off
Despite a reversal of the spike in supramax rates seen at the end of 2013, Western Bulk has reported a profit of $5.5m for Q1 2014.
May 7, 2014
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The company considered the market to be low for the first quarter, although things picked up in March as time charter margins reached $1,127 per ship day.
A quarter on quarter drop in the number of ships in operation from 186 to 178, and ship days from 17,101 to 16,051, was offset by a higher average margin per ship day. A net profit of $746 per ship day in Q4 2013 rose to $852 per day in the first quarter, despite the challenging market.
Activity in the Pacific was hit by the Indonesian export ban on nickel ore and bauxite, a development that might benefit the market in the medium term if China is forced to restock its nickel ore from further afield, boosting ton-mile demand.
Compared to Q1 2013, when Western Bulk reported a $1.5m loss, ship numbers, ship days and net time charter margins all rose significantly.
Western Bulk Chartering made use of all of its 3,100 optional ship days with a charter in rate around $9,800 per day, as well as booking a further 5,700 optional days for the future at an average of $12,800 per day.
"Western Bulk saw a marginal improvement of its performance in Q1-14 compared to Q4-13, despite a weak and very challenging market. We are cautiously optimistic on the market going forward, and have thus continued to add attractive optionality for future periods", says Jens Ismar, ceo of Western Bulk.
Recognising slippage in market optimism from the second quarter to the second half of this year, Western Bulk's board remained optimistic in its outlook as it predicted an increase in net daily earnings in the coming quarter.w
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