LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - European thermal coal prices edged lower on Wednesday, as ample supplies met weak demand, with brokers and analysts expecting the outlook for prices to remain bearish.
European cargoes for delivery into Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Antwerp (ARA) in August GCLARAPDSMQ5 last closed at $58.35 a tonne, having fallen around 3 percent over the past month.
"There is oversupply globally, demand is weak," said a broker.
"It's overall a bearish picture."
European API2 2015 coal futures TRAPI2Yc1 were down 45 cents or 0.8 percent at $57.35 a tonne, near a more than nine-year low of $55.25 hit on April 8.
"Demand is off, particularly in Asia," the broker added.
A sharp drop in 2015 coal imports into top coal consumer China has kept downward pressure on prices.
"We continue to be bearish on the price of coal, mainly due to, so far successful, efforts by Chinese authorities to move away from coal power and reliance on imports," Capital Economics said in a commodities note.
"Chinese demand for coal imports have fallen by around a third in the second quarter of this year compared to Q2 2014."
China's drive to cut imports is both environmentally driven, while also being motivated by a desire to help domestic producers, as most have been losing money.
In South Africa, prompt cargoes from the country's Richards Bay terminal GCLRCBPFBMc2 last closed at $56.40 a tonne, down around 7 percent from a month ago as weak demand weighed.
South Africa's Richards Bay Coal Terminal will begin this year a 1.34 billion rand ($108 million) machine replacement program to upgrade facilities despite low coal prices. ID:nL5N0ZW13S