The trend has been attributed to factors such as the aftermath of flooding last year in Queensland and the Vessel Arrival System initiated in 2010 to safely cut queues.

The principal driver of the diminishing number of coal ships, however, has been roundly recognized to be a change in Asian appetite and buying patterns.

The slowdown in the growth of China’s coke-hungry steel industry and more competitive supply from the US have been important influences on this evolution.

With the Australian dollar hovering around parity with the US dollar, Japanese importers in particular have been looking more towards US markets, reportedly eroding Australian coal exports by 30-50 million tonnes annually over the plast few years.

Figures tallied and reported by The Australian today indicate that while it was common for queues off the nation’s ports to exceed 300 ships just three years ago, that number has fallen to only 90 waiting ships today.

Queensland has been found to be the most acutely affected with the port of Dalrymple Bay queuing eight ships today compared to a peak of 68 three years ago, and Gladstone counting only four ships off port compared to its peak of 28 in 2010.

The report also cited railway inefficiencies in New South Wales as a considerable factor, noting that only 23 ships were moored in the waters off Newcastle yesterday compared to the more than 80 ships five years ago.

Newcastle has managed, however, to increase exports in recent years thanks to shiploading and port traffic efficiency measures and more consistent demand for NSW’s thermal coal.

The port is now on track to export 137Mt of mostly thermal coal this year, compared to 103Mt shipped out in 2010.

Coking coal produced in Queensland, by contrast, has been harder hit by depressed demand from China’s slowed steelmaking.