June 19, 2019 - High-vol coking coal and PCI miner Cambrian Coal LLC along with Cambrian Holding Co. and 17 affiliates have filed for Chapter 11, potentially affecting U.S. buyers and exports through international trader Javelin Global Commodities, sources said.

Cambrian is a mid-sized met coal producer under privately held Kentucky-based miner Booth Energy group.

Another U.S. supplier competing with Cambrian said there was a mix of inquiry from domestic and export markets for coals over the past few weeks on anticipation of the filing, with details on Cambrian's post Chapter 11 production plans awaited.

An industry source last week said there were several Central Appalachian met coal suppliers finding it tough operating with existing debt obligations and repayment profiles, and lower met coal spot prices could exacerbate this.

U.S. met coal export spot prices have fallen since a peak in Q4 2018 and Q1 2019 due to lower steel prices and demand in the Atlantic, as premium HCC prices in Australia found greater support on Chinese demand for imports to meet surging steel production.

Lower realized met coal prices had likely contributed to the filing, a source said.

Cambrian filed for reorganization with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky on Sunday, S&P Global Market Intelligence reported.

The filing listed Cambrian Coal's assets as totaling between $10 million and $50 million and liabilities between $100 million and $500 million, according to court filings. Cambrian Holding listed its assets and liabilities amounting to less than $50,000.

Cambrian's assets include key mines formerly owned by U.S. utility Teco Energy, with the sale to Booth's Cambrian closing in 2015.

Cambrian Coal is a producer of high vol-A, semi soft and PCI coals with over 5 million tons/year of production, Javelin said on its website. The company did not clarify if the production was reported in metric tons or short tons.

Javelin said it signed a marketing agreement with Cambrian Coal for exporting met coal and PCI, and marketing PCI in the U.S., for product from the Clintwood Elkhorn, Premier Elkhorn and Perry Country mines in Kentucky and Virginia.

Javelin also markets U.S. met coal for mines owned and co-owned by miners Murray Energy and Blackjewel, as well as additional material through origination and trading.