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Euro Coal- Dips, market braces for further fall

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Wed Sep 5, 2012 1:10pm EDT

* Nov DES ARA trades at $92.80/T

* FARC guerillas blow up trucks at Cerrejon, Colombia mine

* More Colombian coal offered

LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Physical coal prices in Europe trickled lower by 10 cents a tonne on Wednesday but traders said they were set for further falls because the drop in supply has been outpaced by shrinking spot demand.

Thermal coal prices have rebounded from the two-year lows seen in June but there was still too much coal available in both the Atlantic and Pacific markets to justify prices of around $90, suppliers and end-users said.

While U.S. thermal coal exports have slowed, there were more prompt cargoes available from Colombia, after the Fenoco rail strike ended and affected producers accelerated their railings to port, to try and catch up with delayed shipments.

Leftist FARC rebels in Colombia on Tuesday blew up two trucks at Cerrejon's opencast mine, the latest in a string of attacks this year, but which had no significant impact on exports.

Signals from the Coaltrans Beijing conference this week have been bearish and the only Chinese buying seen has been for heavily-discounted cargoes, traders and suppliers said.

"The Chinese are doing virtually nothing spot, the usual big traders there are stuck with massive inventories they bought at much higher prices and they also have no buyers," one European trader said.

Other suppliers said they were negotiating spot sales with Chinese buyers other than the handful of large trading firms who have been the main intermediaries between the international players and Chinese end-users.

"It's all below the radar, quiet bilateral sales," one supplier said.

PRICES

A September loading South African cargo was bid at $89 and offered at $91, down 10 cents.

An October South African cargo was bid at $86 and offered at $87.75.

A September DES ARA cargo was bid at $89 and offered at $91.

TRADES

A November delivery DES ARA cargo traded at $92.80 a tonne.

(Reporting by Jacqueline Cowhig, editing by William Hardy)

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