ANALYSIS-Asia coal traders a scarce commodity as prices surge

By Fayen Wong

PERTH, July 14 (Reuters) - Coal may be the world's most abundant form of carbon energy, but those who can turn a profit trading it are in increasingly short supply as trading houses and investment banks jostle for a share of the expanding market.

For the first time in recent memory, say industry sources, coal traders have become hot commodities in themselves, rivalling keenly-sought oil or metals dealers in a scramble for experienced personnel able to manoeuver in a volatile, opaque and often illiquid market that is finally opening up.

"The pool is getting smaller and people with experience are very sought after now," Tim Spragg, a director at recruitment agency Commodity Appointment Ltd in Singapore, told Reuters.

"And since the recent credit crunch, employers are less willing to take risks on those without a proven track record."

The recruitment drive comes as coal is breaking out of decades of clubby, narrow trade among a handful of key producers, consumers and middlemen to achieve the status of an internationally-traded commodity.

Booming Asian demand is spurring steady growth in spot trade, derivatives and -- this autumn -- new futures contracts.

The price of benchmark Australia thermal coal, used for power generation, has quadrupled from a year ago, striking a record high of $201 a tonne on July 1 after a nearly overnight $20 surge -- a degree of volatility that can make or break a trader's book.

Thanks also to the freeing up of European power and gas markets and the advent of the carbon market, banks ranging from Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Goldman Sachs (GS.N) to Merrill Lynch MER.N have begun to trade physical and paper coal.