Scorpio Bulkers is a reluctant seller of its shares in sibling Scorpio Tankers given the unfolding recovery in the product market, president Robert Bugbee says.

The executive also dismissed the idea of the world’s largest product-tanker owner locking in substantial period business as the upturn takes shape, despite a two-ship deal with Vitol.

Scorpio Bulkers became a major shareholder in its sibling when it took $100m worth of stock in an equity issue last year.