Expanded Panama Canal to bypass coal freight trade from Americas to Asia

The new deeper, wider Panama Canal will make little difference to the flow of world coal trade from exporters in the Americas to big Asian clients.

Even when the work is finished in 2014 it is likely to still be as cheap to take ships around the Cape of Good Hope, as rates are expected to stay depressed, and the improvements to the Canal will still not be enough to let the biggest coal ships through.

Coal traders had expected the canal expansion to boost coal traffic from Colombia to Asia using smaller panamax vessels.

Original source: Reuters