EURO COAL-Up on German power, Colombian supply uncertainty

* Physical coal rises for fourth consecutive day

* South African coal also up on tight power supply

LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - European physical coal rose on Thursday for the fourth consecutive day as an increase in German power prices and export problems in Colombia helped lift prices.

Coal prices for delivery in February into Europe's main import terminals of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp (ARA) were trading at $88.50 a tonne, up $1.35 from Wednesday's close.

Physical coal prices have been on the rise every day this week, due to uncertainty about Colombian exports and higher German power prices.

The German Cal'15 baseload contract was trading 0.40 euros higher at 36.60 euros per megawatt hour on Thursday afternoon.

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On the supply side, export problems in Colombia, an important supplier to Europe, continued to pose a supply risk for European utilities.

The Colombian export facility of mining company Drummond

Href="NewsSearch">DRMND.UL shut down in January over the violation of a new environmental law, and sources said that Drummond has failed to find an alternative port from which to ship its coal.

In the Asia-Pacific market, Chinese coal production is expected to grow 2.7 percent this year to around 3.8 billion tonnes, with demand also still rising despite a government campaign to cut air pollution, according to the China National Coal Association. News Search ID:nL3N0KQ1JY

Coal cargoes from South Africa's Richards Bay terminals for delivery in February were up $0.25 a tonne to $87.00 per tonne.

South African utility Eskom said on Monday that the country's power supply would be very tight over the next three days.

(Reporting by Nina Chestney, editing by William Hardy)

((nina.chestney@thomsonreuters.com)(+44)(0)(207 542 8071)(nina.chestney.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: MARKETS COAL/PHYSICAL