Oct 21 (Reuters) - British and European wholesale gas prices mostly fell on Thursday, driven by losses in the coal market that trumped forecasts of higher demand amid colder weather and less wind.
* The Dutch wholesale gas price for November was 2.13 euros lower at 90.60 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0857 GMT.
* The contract for December delivery was down 2.73 euros at 90.80 euros/MWh.
* In the UK market, the contract for the first quarter of 2022 was down 7 pence at 233 pence per therm.
* Gas was taking its cue from a drop in the coal market, with gas flows and weather forecasts moving sideways, a trader said.
* China's thermal coal futures fell the maximum permitted 11% on Thursday, after Beijing signalled it might intervene to cool surging prices that have led to power shortages across much of the country.
* European coal contracts also fell, with the November API2 contract on the Ice Exchange down $19.50 at $180 per tonne.
* Further in, the British day-ahead price for gas bucked the trend for lower prices, rising 7 pence to 214.00 pence per therm.
* The within-day contract was down by 8 pence to 205 pence/therm.
* The British gas system was forecast 9 million cubic metres (mcm) per day over-supplied on Thursday morning, according to National Grid.
* Local distribution zone (LDZ) demand, which mostly reflects heating, will rise 444 gigawatt hours (GWh) in north-west Europe for Friday and remain mostly flat in Britain, analysts at Refinitiv said.
* Lower wind speeds will increase gas-for-power demand by 20 mcm/day in the UK and 287 GWh/day in north-west Europe, they added, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
* Meanwhile, lower UK domestic production due to unplanned outages at three fields would be partially offset by the re-routing of Norwegian gas flow from continental Europe, due to maintenance at the Emden exit terminal in Germany, Refinitiv said.
* The benchmark Dec-21 EU carbon contract dropped 0.95 euro to 56.83 euros a tonne. (Reporting by Nora Buli; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
