Euro Coal October Prices Edge Lower on Weak Demand

European physical coal prices for October delivery fell on Friday as healthy supply and expectations of weak demand from utilities kept a lid on prices despite fears over Russian energy exports to Europe.

Cargoes for delivery in October to Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp (ARA) traded at $78.20 a tonne on the globalCOAL trading platform by 1450 GMT, down 15 cents from Thursday's settlement.

The contract, which was the only ARA coal contract to trade by Friday afternoon, hit a high of $78.45 per tonne in the day.

Traders said prices peaked after comments from Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk suggested planned sanctions against Russia could impact "all types of transit" across the country, prompting concerns that could include Russian natural gas bound for Europe and triggering gains across the European energy complex.

Russia meets 30 percent of Europe's natural gas demand and half of that gas transits to the EU through Ukraine.

Any disruption in gas supply could lead to a greater demand for other fuels.

"There was probably some short covering," a coal trader said, adding that fundamentally demand for coal is still weak.

Most utilities are thought to be well stocked with coal after an unseasonably warm winter led to lower demand for electricity production across Europe.

In Asian coal markets, Korea Western Power Co Ltd bought a total of 360,000 tonnes of bituminous and sub-bituminous type coal per year for 2015-19 via tenders which closed on Aug. 5, a source from the utility said on Friday.

It purchased the coal products for the Taean Power Plant, the source added, but declined to disclose price or supplier information.

China, the world's largest coal buyer, imported 23.03 million tonnes of coal in July, down 8.1 percent from June, figures from the General Administration of Customs of China showed.

The figures include lignite, a type of coal with lower heating value that is largely supplied by Indonesia.

Thermal coal prices for September delivery at Australia's Newcastle port, an Asian benchmark, rose 15 cents to $69.15 per tonne, while the November contract gained 20 cents to $71.20 per tonne.

(Reporting by Susanna Twidale; editing by Jason Neely)