By Jack Kimball
BOGOTA (Reuters) - A Colombian court has postponed until Tuesday a decision on whether a strike at the country's main coal railway is legal, officials said, as the labour dispute hits shipments from the world's fourth-largest coal exporter.
The 19-day strike over pay at the Fenoco railway has prompted some major Colombian coal producers to declare limited force majeure, stopping exports from companies that account for more than 50 percent of coal output and boosting global prices.
Fenoco and the union, which represents more than a third of the railway's workers, told Reuters on Saturday that the decision had been moved to Tuesday afternoon after the court and lawyers met late into the night on Friday without reaching a ruling.
Fenoco is urging workers to vote on Monday on whether to end the strike and send the dispute to an arbitration committee, but union officials have said that only they have the power to end the walkout.
Fenoco's shareholders include Glencore International Plc's Prodeco unit, Drummond International and Goldman Sachs Group Inc's Colombian units.
The walkout at Fenoco has removed 1.5 million tonnes from the country's exports this year, sources said. Daily coal supply to ports via Fenoco is up to 160,000 tonnes and the railway has an annual capacity of 42 million tonnes or more.
Drummond, whose Colombian coal operations are 20 percent owned by Japan's Itochu Corp, and Prodeco, have declared limited force majeure on some cargoes.
Prodeco is also suffering from a strike at its La Jagua mine in the northern Cesar province.
The strikes have been cited as the main reason for the recovery in coal prices from the two-year lows seen in June. But some players say the market's reaction has been overdone because the walkouts are unlikely to last more than another few days.
(Reporting by Jack Kimball; Editing by Paul Simao)
