UPDATE 1-China Feb coal exports drop after export ban

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SHANGHAI, March 10 (Reuters) - China's coal exports in February dropped 48 percent from the previous month due to a temporary ban on coal exports as the government confronted domestic coal and power shortages.

China, the world's largest coal exporter and consumer, exported 3 million tonnes of coal in February, down sharply from 5.44 million tonnes in January, official Customs data showed on Monday.

"The administrative order has held back the export of large quantities of coal, despite high international prices," said Geoffrey Cheng, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research, referring to the ban, issued in late January.

The heaviest snow and ice storms in decades hit parts of central and southern China in late January and early February, triggering severe coal and power shortages.

The Ministry of Communications told port authorities to stop loading coal cargoes for export for February and at least the first half of March to alleviate domestic shortages, but some traders continued to export in small volumes.

International coal prices hit a record $150 a tonne in early February, before easing to nearly $130 last Friday, still attractive to Chinese miners.

The government has yet to issue coal export quotas for the year from March 2008 to February 2009. Many traders and analysts believe that the quotas will be much lower than last year's 70 million tonnes.

For March, analysts expect exports to be flat or fall further from February.

"There will not be much exporting in March either, because exporters won't be able to export without new quotas," said Li Chaolin, a Beijing-based coal market analyst. (Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Edmund Klamann)