Market Minute: Weekend Spotlight: Diana Shipping (DSX) CEO Unafraid of Tariffs
Diana Shipping (DSX) just celebrated its 20th anniversary of being listed at the NYSE. Nicole sat down with its CEO, Semiramis Paliou, to discuss business strategy, tariffs, and the shipping industry.
Based in Athens, Greece, Diana Shipping focuses on bulk dry goods, such as metal ores or grains – as distinguished from bulk liquid carriers, which transport oil, chemicals, and similar products. As of March 24, their fleet reached 37 vessels, with two more on the way that are supposed to run on cleaner fuel. This is a company quietly operating in a critical area of global infrastructure – despite its 20 years of public listing, it doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page.
Paliou seems mostly unconcerned about tariffs, noting that trade disruptions can actually be more profitable for shipping companies. “The shipping industry is very cyclical in its nature, so volatility is not something that worries us.” She cites the pandemic, Russian sanctions, and the ongoing Houthi Red Sea crisis, which spiked freight rates as it endangered one of the major global shipping lanes. Shipping companies, it should be noted, don’t directly pay tariffs, so the question is more around demand than additional expenses.
Looking at the fleet, Diana Shipping says it can carry approximately 4.1 million dwt (dead weight tonnage, aka the total weight a vessel can handle, including fuel, crew, water, and provisions along with the cargo). The fleet’s weighted average age is 11.4 years: IOP Science writes that a typical lifespan for cargo ships is 25-30 years, after which it is usually recycled.
Diana operates several sizes of ship, including Newcastlemax and Panamax – the size names come from the largest ports these ships can enter. In the case of Newcastlemax, it means the largest size that can dock in Newport, Australia: a maximum length of 300 meters and maximum beam (the width at the widest point) of 50 meters. Panamax refers to the Panama Canal, which limits ship sizes to what can fit through the locks there.
The ships are scattered around the globe: their website offers a map that shows vessels docked and at sea. The majority right now are around India, South Asia and China. Incidentally, all their vessels are made abroad, mostly in Japanese and Chinese shipyards.
March was a busy month for the company: it announced multiple charter contracts with Cargill, including one for the Medusa for $5.5 million (a rate of $13,000 per day). They also announced a joint venture investment to construct two semi-refrigerated LPG vessels (ships specially designed to transport liquified petroleum gas). These are separate from the two dry bulk vessels it already has on the way, scheduled to be delivered in 2027 and 2028.
In its latest earnings report in February, 4Q24, it beat estimates on the top and bottom line with EPS of $0.02 (vs $0.06 last year) and revenue of $57.1 million (vs $60.0 million last year). Diana Shipping also declared a $0.01/share cash dividend – Paliou discusses how DSX has returned capital to shareholders over the last 20 years. Their fleet utilization was 99.7%, matching last year’s. However, it lists lower ownership days (3,496) than last year’s (3,746), which the company cited as impacting revenue. However, they did lower vessel operating expenses year-over-year.
The company hit a 52-week low on Thursday and has been in a downtrend this year. Year-to-date, it is down around 21% and is down over 46% over the last 52 weeks. If tariffs create a contraction in the shipping cycle, it could create an opportunity for interested investors. Or, the slowdown may prove unappealing. Still, global shipping isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, trade war or no.
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