Two vessel sales boosted Jinhui Shipping & Transportation’s profit for the first three months of the year by more than 40%. The Hong Kong-based, Oslo-listed bulker owner posted a $19m profit for the first quarter of 2022, with $6m coming from the sale of two ageing supramaxes. One was the 53,800-dwt Jin Cheng (built 2004), which the company sold for $13.9m in early March to Hong Kong single-purpose company Perfect Shipping Co Ltd. The second was for the 50,800-dwt Jin Ping (built 2002), which was sold in December for $5.5m and delivered in January to another single-purpose company, Hong Kong Sinfeng Shipping.

The gain on sales alone eclipsed Jinhui’s first-quarter 2021 profit of $5.2m. Beyond the sales, the company attributed the profit jump to operating a larger fleet in an improving market. “At the start of the year 2022, there had been some corrections in the freight market, affected by multiples issues from seasonal trading patterns such as Chinese New Year holidays, decrease in industrial activity during Beijing Olympics, volatility in commodity prices, to continued disruptions in the global supply chain,” the company said.

“The market freight rates soon began to regain strength thereafter driven by the robust demand for dry bulk commodities and limited supply of vessel in the first quarter of 2022, despite the simultaneous occurrence of multiple geopolitical issues.”

For the quarter, Jinhui’s fleet of 24 ships earned average time charter equivalent rates of $17,510 per day, with its post-panamax duo fetching $22,288 per day and its 22 supramaxes $16,997 per day. All three figures were improvements from the first quarter of 2021 when its post-panamaxes earned $12,250 per day, its supramaxes $10,022 per day and its fleet an average of $10,279 per day.

Jinhui said the market would continue to improve with a low orderbook and potential further geopolitical disruptions. ”We remain alert to the increasingly frequent economic, geopolitical or other unforeseen surprises that can trigger volatility to our business performance, as well as the carrying value of our shipping assets and financial assets,” the company said.