Pakistan is finally accepting tankers for recycling again. After a series of deadly accidents the Asian country had banned all tankers heading for the country for scrapping for more than a year.
A number of recyclers in the past week have been given the go ahead to restart rcycling tankers. There are a vast number of ships beached in and around Gadani waiting to be torched.
However, Clarkson Research notes in its most weekly report permission was only granted for a few tankers, rather than all of those that have been delivered, and it will take some time until yards are able to sell on the inventories from the remaining units.
“There is uncertainty over whether conditions in local steel markets will have changed by this point, which could have an effect on sentiment at the recycling yards. The dilemma for owners is whether to sell vessels now or wait until the end of the monsoon,” Clarkson Research noted.
Cash buyers Best Oasis suggested in a report that there are 700,000 tons of tankers beached at Gadani awaiting to be scrapped. Rates for new tonnage bound for Pakistan are likely to come off by $15 to $20 this week, Best Oasis predicted.
