STX Pan Ocean sees red
Low shipping freight rates and high operating costs have dragged STX Pan Ocean into the red in the second quarter from net profit a year ago, Seatrade Asia reports.
Second quarter net loss stood at $83.84m as against a net profit of $20.39m in the corresponding period of 2011.
Revenue for the shipping company fell 10.3% year-on-year to $1.26bn. “This is mainly due to lower freight rates fro the recession of shipping industries. However, higher volumes of the group partially offset lower freight rates,” STX Pan Ocean said.
The oversupply of dry bulk carriers suppressing market recovery could be relieved through slow steaming and higher scrapping activities, the company said. It added that restricted access to financing will also lead to slippage and slow down in ordering and delivering of vessels.
“In terms of demand side, due to solid increase in demand for iron ore and coal accompanied by global economic recovery, there is a possibility the dry bulk market will recover earlier than the analyst expected,” it said.