ANALYSIS-Record coal prices hammer power generators

Some European regions can switch from coal to hydro, wind or gas-fired, notably Scandinavia, Germany and Iberia, but most European utilities rely on at least some coal-fired generation.

Germany's E.ON AG EONG.DE, Italy's Enel (ENEI.MI) and Spain's Endesa (ELE.MC) are among the utilities currently seeking coal for Q4 and Q1, market sources said.

One European utility recently paid close to $115.00 a tonne CIF for a South African cargo which it bought to replace delayed shipments of other origins.

European cement companies said they also recently bought at prices far higher than those indicated on the globalCOAL trading platform or by published weekly coal indices.

"So many utilities and cement companies are looking," a trader said. "They will pay but they are desperate that nobody finds out."

CONSUMERS PAY UP

A large European industrial consumer of coal said his company had struggled recently to find enough coal of any acceptable origin and had no choice but to pay the price asked by the supplier.

"In Europe anyway, I think you will be able to find enough coal, but it won't be easy and you'll have to pay up," a further trader said.