Robert Murray’s bankrupt coal producer Murray Energy Corp. has put additional coal mines into chapter 11 that produce a type of coal used in steelmaking, intending to sell them amid a continued price slump, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Murray Energy, which filed for chapter 11 in October, had tried to keep these metallurgical coal mines out of bankruptcy. Unlike the coal burned by utilities to produce electricity, metallurgical coal is used to make coke which is used to produce steel. But the company said that its metallurgical operations have also faced market headwinds and can’t meet their financial obligations without bankruptcy protection and access to emergency loans. Tuesday’s chapter 11 filing covers Murray Metallurgical Coal Holdings LLC, a subsidiary formed in April when Murray Energy acquired mines in West Virginia and Alabama out of the bankruptcy of another mining company, Mission Coal Co. Since Murray Met was formed last year, the price of met coal has fallen about 30 percent, according to court papers. Murray Met has signed a lender-backed restructuring support agreement designed to keep the business afloat as bankruptcy advisers work to sell its mines. If approved in bankruptcy court, the restructuring deal would provide Murray Met a $68.6 million financing package including up to $47 million in new money. The financing would give the business access to $28.9 million in new money loans and immediately repay $21.5 million in existing loans advanced by Murray Energy and lender MC Southwork LLC, according to court documents.
