In the 1930s 'good money' could be made in the grain trade from Australia to Europe, "the carrying rates could vary from perhaps four dollars to eight dollars per ton." The owners of the "Parma" bought their vessel in 1932 for about ten thousand dollars and then loaded over 5,200 tons or 62,650 sacks of grain, for a gross income of $40,000. "The ship paid for herself and all her expenses for the year from the income of that one voyage even though she had sailed in ballast halfway around the world." In most of those years, the ships in the grain trade could clear about $5,000 each.