Prices fall but French issues remain a concern

March 14 (Reuters) - Dutch and British wholesale gas prices fell for a second day on Tuesday morning, as mild, windy forecasts eased demand from the power sector, but strikes at French LNG terminals and problems at French nuclear plants still provide support.

The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub was down 6.35 euros at 46.40 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 1005 GMT, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

The contract extended losses seen on Monday, that were likely triggered by profit-taking from financial participants, analysts at Engie EnergyScan said in a daily report.

A feeling that European power systems could cope with low French nuclear generation if renewable power generation is strong, as illustrated by current spot power prices, probably also played a role, they added.

A new round of corrosion and welding issues at French nuclear reactors has raised concern over output from the country's key source of power supply.

"The market does however remain nervous, as the situation surrounding the French nuclear plants remains unresolved, and we could see further sudden price jumps if indeed new cracks to reactors are discovered," analysts at Energi Danmark said.

Ongoing disruptions at French import terminals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) as part of wider strike action against pension reforms, continued to provide some price support, Refinitiv analyst Marina Tsygankova said.

Lower oil prices and the risk of wider commodities market contagion from the fall-out of the failure of U.S. bank SVB, were also a bearish risk, she said.

The British day-ahead contract was 11.25 pence lower at 120.50 pence per therm, and the within-day contract fell 6.00 pence to 121.00 p/therm, according to Refinitiv data.

Prices were down on forecasts for warm and windy weather, sufficient flows of gas, a trader said.

Still, the British gas system was 13.5 million cubic metres (mcm) undersupplied this morning, National Gas data showed.

European gas storage sites were 56.50% full, the latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe showed.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract was 1.87 euro lower at 95.26 euros a tonne.