Taiwan Power Co. and Ho-Ping Power Company issued the tenders this week to buy thermal coal from Australian, Indonesian and Chinese suppliers, producers said yesterday.

The delivery over as much as 10 years — longer than deals typically for just four or five years — is a stark sign of the anxiety among many Asian utilities after a year in which prices soared to record highs above US$70 amid a scramble for supplies.

“The supply outlook has changed quite substantially over the past few months so we’re moving to secure more coal in advance,” a source at Taipower who declined to be named told Reuters.

Last month, Taipower signed a string of six to 10 years long-term contracts to buy a total of 17 million tons of coal from Australian, Indonesian and Chinese producers.

Despite a push for greener economic growth, China’s massive power plant expansion is still dominated by coal-fired units.

Its unexpected emergence as a net importer this year and continued constraints on exports from number-two supplier Australia this year have forced big buyers to scramble for rare deals from further afield, primarily South Africa.

Taipower’s latest tender, issued Tuesday, is seeking 500,000 tons of thermal coal per year beginning in 2008 and lasting from six to 10 years, sources said.

The tender was for bituminous coal with minimum calorific value of 5,500 kcal/kg on a gross as received basis, a maximum of 1.1 percent ash and not more than 10 percent sulfur, producers invited to participate in the tender said.

Ho-Ping Power, partly owned by Hong Kong’s CLP Holdings, is also in the market seeking long-term deliveries for five years, beginning from April 2008 to March 2013, producers said. The utility is also seeking 500,000 tons of coal a year.

Results of the tender will be closely watched by traders eager for signs of Indonesia and China’s pricing strategies for 2008, when the supply squeeze is expected to worsen.

Australian benchmark coal for the third quarter of 2008 traded at US$72.60 a ton Friday versus US$51 a ton for prompt cargoes at the start of the year, according to trades shown on electronic platform globalCOAL.

April to March 2008 contract prices for Australian coal sold to Japanese utilities is expected to rise by more than 15 percent next year to a record high US$64 a ton, according to a Reuters poll of analysts conducted last month.

European landed prices for 2007 also topped US$100 a ton last week, causing anxiety among utilities who have few alternatives amid record oil prices and limited gas supplies.

Industry sources said Indonesian producers, such as Bumi Resources and Gunung Bayan, were continuing to assess the market and have so far kept their 2008 prices close to their chest.

Prices offered by Chinese producers, such as Shenhua Energy and China Coal, would also give Japanese utilities some flavor on prices next year.

Fears of not being to able to secure coal from traditional suppliers drove South Korean utilities to buy 1.25 million tons of 2008 South African coal last month.

The Taipower source said the company has no plans as yet to seek South African coal supplies.

Producers offering the most competitive price for the first year will be awarded the tender, the Taipower source said. Prices for the following years would be indexed to the annual price settlements between Australian producers and Japanese utilities.

The deadline for submitting bids to the Taipower tender is Oct. 16, while the Ho-Ping tender closes in the week of Oct. 8.

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