India’s Great Eastern Shipping has logged better quarterly earnings as bulker rates hit 20-year highs. The Mumbai-listed owner said net profit in its third quarter ending 31 December reached INR 2.05bn ($27.4m) from INR 1.76bn a year ago. Revenue rose to INR 9.3bn, against INR 8.5bn. Bulker time charter earnings soared 168% from the same period in the previous year, hitting $31,003 per day.

Great Eastern said that dry tonne-miles rose by 4.8% year-on-year in 2021, primarily led by trade growth in minor bulks. The global fleet grew 3.5%, but congestion, which had touched a 10-year high of 5% in the July to September period, helped tighten the market. The owner’s crude tankers saw rates slip 27% to $12,098 per day from a year ago, while product carriers were up 2% to $10,689.

Great Eastern noted an increase in oil demand, with higher refinery runs leading to an increase in trade during the quarter. “However, while product trade is 3% below pre-Covid levels, crude trade continues to be much worse, at 10% lower,” the owner said. Supply overhang continued as the fleet grew by about 2% year-on-year, not counting the release of floating storage vessels. The company assessed the last three months of 2021 as the second-weakest third quarter since 1990. “The silver lining is that both crude oil and product inventories have been drawn down by about 10%, and are now below their five-year lows,” the shipowner said.

The LPG carrier fleet put on 6% to reach earnings of $28,609 per day. VLGC spot earnings averaged $39,800, down from the previous year, but still strong, the company added. Trade demand grew 4.5% from last year, but fleet supply growth of 6% and high bunker prices led to a drop in earnings. Strong US LPG exports and increased congestion at the Panama Canal continued to support the freight market, however. The owner’s gas vessels have 89% of days booked for the year ending 31 March. Bulkers stand on 49%, with tankers averaging 32.5%.

India’s biggest private shipowner controls 45 vessels, plus 23 offshore units.