News: YAL UPDATE 1-Yancoal Australia made to reserve 395,000 tonnes of coal per quarter for local...

(Updates with Yancoal statement on coal prices, context)

Feb 16 (Reuters) - Yancoal Australia Ltd (YAL) said on Thursday it had been compelled to make available up to 395,000 tonnes of coal per quarter to domestic power generators from its attributable saleable production under a New South Wales government policy.

New South Wales (NSW), Australia's most-populous state, last month set requirement for coal miners to reserve up to 10% of their production for the domestic market, effective until June 2024, as part of a national move to limit soaring energy prices.

Yancoal said in a statement that coal sold under the policy would be subject to a price cap of A$125 per tonne delivered for a certain category of coal. For full-year 2022, Yancoal received an average A$372 per tonne for its thermal coal, nearly double from a year ago.

The miner said it had been informed by the NSW government that it would not be compensated for the difference between market rates and the price it receives selling volumes under the policy.

"Compensation may be made available in certain circumstances, such as where costs exceed the capped price of coal," the company said.

The 395,000 tonnes-per-quarter requirement implies 1.58 million tonnes of coal for the year, representing around 5.4% of the company's 29.4 million tonnes of total attributable saleable coal output in 2022.

Yancoal will continue engaging with the NSW government to "address any unintended impacts of the policy" and compensation that it should receive for losses incurred, it said. (([email protected]; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sameer_manekar))