Analysts have been significantly underestimating the number of bulkers affected by Beijing’s de facto ban on Australian coal imports.
Seventy-four ships of panamax size or larger are waiting at Chinese anchorages laden with Australian coal, based on current numbers from Oslo dry bulk intelligence service Oceanbolt. And many of the 50-plus such vessels idle in ballast off eastern Australia may be waiting out the same ban.
Those numbers could matter to the supply-and-demand equation in dry bulk if ships now in limbo are all released into the market at the same time and resume active trading, while freight demand increases only modestly.
