Arch Coal Will Idle Its Cumberland River Coal Complex

Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) announced that it will idle the Cumberland River Coal Company complex in Wise County, Va., and Letcher County, Ky. the complex consists of two underground operations and related facilities, having previously shuttered two contract mines in 2013.

As quoted in the press release:

Cumberland River sold approximately 290,000 tons in the first half of 2014, consisting primarily of higher-cost metallurgical grade coal. The decision to idle operations at Cumberland River will reduce Arch’s annual 2014 metallurgical coal sales volumes by approximately 200,000 tons. As such, the company now expects to ship between 6.3 million and 6.9 million tons of metallurgical coal for 2014. Arch plans to provide an update regarding its full year 2014 expectations in its second quarter 2014 earnings release on July 29, 2014.

Arch Coal president and CEO, John W. Eaves, said:

With this move, we are actively responding to currently challenged metallurgical coal markets while striving to enhance our overall competitive cost position in Appalachia. Our strategy is to increasingly shift our portfolio toward higher-margin, lower-cost metallurgical coal operations, while retaining our valuable reserves for when market conditions strengthen in the future. We will continue to serve our customers here and abroad with the high level of quality they have come to expect from Arch.

Click here to read the Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) press release