Document
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
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ý | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 or
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¨ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to
Commission File Number 001-35243
SUNCOKE ENERGY, INC.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
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Delaware | | 90-0640593 |
(State of or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
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1011 Warrenville Road, Suite 600 Lisle, Illinois | | 60532 |
(Address of principal executive offices) | | (zip code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (630) 824-1000
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: |
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Title of Each Class | | Name of Each Exchange on which Registered |
Common Stock, $0.01 par value | | New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ¨ No ý
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ¨ No ý
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ý No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ý No ¨
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ý
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
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Large accelerated filer | | ¨ | | Accelerated filer | | ý |
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Non-accelerated filer | | ¨ (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) | | Smaller reporting company | | ¨ |
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| | | | Emerging growth company | | ¨ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ¨ No ý
The aggregate market value of the registrant's common stock (based upon the June 30, 2017 closing price of $10.90 on the New York Stock Exchange) held by non-affiliates was approximately $694,796,596.
The number of shares of common stock outstanding as of February 9, 2018 was 64,542,973.
Portions of the SunCoke Energy, Inc. 2018 definitive Proxy Statement, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after December 31, 2017, are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K.
SUNCOKE ENERGY, INC.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I
Overview
SunCoke Energy, Inc. (“SunCoke Energy,” “Company,” “we,” “our” and “us”) is the largest independent producer of high-quality coke in the Americas, as measured by tons of coke produced each year, and has approximately 55 years of coke production experience. Coke is a principal raw material in the blast furnace steelmaking process and is produced by heating metallurgical coal in a refractory oven, which releases certain volatile components from the coal, thus transforming the coal into coke. We also provide handling and/or mixing services to steel, coke (including some of our domestic cokemaking facilities), electric utility, coal producing and other manufacturing based customers.
Our consolidated financial statements include SunCoke Energy Partners, L.P. (the "Partnership"), a publicly-traded master limited partnership. As of December 31, 2017, we owned the general partner of the Partnership, which owns a 2.0 percent general partner interest and incentive distribution rights ("IDRs") in the Partnership, and owned a 59.9 percent limited partner interest in the Partnership. The remaining 38.1 percent interest in the Partnership was held by public unitholders.
Incorporated in Delaware since 2010 and headquartered in Lisle, Illinois, we became a publicly-traded company in 2011 and our stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “SXC.”
Business Segments
We report our business results through three segments:
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• | Domestic Coke consists of our Jewell Coke Company, L.P. ("Jewell"), Indiana Harbor Coke Company ("Indiana Harbor"), Haverhill Coke Company LLC ("Haverhill"), Gateway Energy and Coke Company, LLC ("Granite City") and Middletown Coke Company, LLC ("Middletown") cokemaking and heat recovery operations located in Vansant, Virginia; East Chicago, Indiana; Franklin Furnace, Ohio; Granite City, Illinois; and Middletown, Ohio, respectively. |
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• | Brazil Coke consists of our operations in Vitória, Brazil, where we operate a cokemaking facility, ArcelorMittal Brasil S.A. ("ArcelorMittal Brazil”), for a Brazilian subsidiary of ArcelorMittal S.A.; |
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• | Logistics consists of our Convent Marine Terminal ("CMT"), Kanawha River Terminals, LLC ("KRT"), SunCoke Lake Terminal, LLC ("Lake Terminal"), and Dismal River Terminal, LLC ("DRT") providing handling and/or mixing services in Convent, Louisiana; Ceredo and Belle, West Virginia; East Chicago, Indiana; and Vansant, Virginia. Lake Terminal and DRT are located adjacent to our Indiana Harbor and Jewell cokemaking facilities, respectively. |
For additional information regarding our business segments, see “Part II. Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and Note 18 to our consolidated financial statements.
Cokemaking Operations
The following table sets forth information about our cokemaking facilities:
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Facility | | Location | | Customer | | Year of Start Up | | Contract Expiration | | Number of Coke Ovens | | Annual Cokemaking Nameplate Capacity (thousands of tons) | | Use of Waste Heat |
Owned and Operated: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Jewell | | Vansant, Virginia | | AM USA | | 1962 | | December 2020 | | 142 | | 720 | | Partially used for thermal coal drying |
Indiana Harbor | | East Chicago, Indiana | | AM USA | | 1998 | | October 2023 | | 268 | | 1,220 | | Heat for power generation |
Haverhill Phase I | | Franklin Furnace, Ohio | | AM USA | | 2005 | | December 2020 | | 100 | | 550 | | Process steam |
Haverhill Phase II | | Franklin Furnace, Ohio | | AK Steel | | 2008 | | December 2021 | | 100 | | 550 | | Power generation |
Granite City | | Granite City, Illinois | | U.S. Steel | | 2009 | | December 2025 | | 120 | | 650 | | Steam for power generation |
Middletown(1) | | Middletown, Ohio | | AK Steel | | 2011 | | December 2032 | | 100 | | 550 | | Power generation |
Total | | | | | | | | | | 830 | | 4,240 | | |
Operated: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Vitória | | Vitória, Brazil | | ArcelorMittal Brazil | | 2007 | | January 2023 | | 320 | | 1,700 | | Steam for power generation |
| | | | | | | | | | 1,150 | | 5,940 | | |
Equity Method Investment: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
VISA SunCoke(2) | | Odisha, India | | Various | | 2007 | | NA | | 88 | | 440 | | Steam for power generation |
Total | | | | | | | | | | 1,238 | | 6,380 | | |
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(1) | Cokemaking nameplate capacity represents stated capacity for production of blast furnace coke. Middletown production and sales volumes are based on “run of oven” capacity, which includes both blast furnace coke and small coke. Using the stated capacity, Middletown nameplate capacity on a “run of oven” basis is approximately 578 thousand tons per year. |
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(2) | We hold a 49 percent investment in a cokemaking joint venture with VISA Steel Limited in India ("VISA SunCoke"), which was fully impaired in 2015, and consequently, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2015, we no longer include our share of VISA SunCoke in our financial results. Cokemaking capacity represents 100 percent of VISA SunCoke. |
We are a technological leader in cokemaking. We have designed, developed, built, own and operate five cokemaking facilities in the United States (“U.S.”) with collective nameplate capacity to produce approximately 4.2 million tons of coke per year. Additionally, we have designed and operate one cokemaking facility in Brazil under licensing and operating agreements on behalf of ArcelorMittal Brazil, which has approximately 1.7 million tons of annual cokemaking capacity. Our cokemaking ovens utilize efficient, modern heat recovery technology designed to combust the coal’s volatile components liberated during the cokemaking process and use the resulting heat to create steam or electricity for sale. This differs from by-product cokemaking, which repurposes the coal’s liberated volatile components for other uses. We have constructed the only greenfield cokemaking facilities in the U.S. in approximately 30 years and are the only North American coke producer that utilizes heat recovery technology in the cokemaking process.
We believe our advanced heat recovery cokemaking process has numerous advantages over by-product cokemaking, including producing higher quality coke, using waste heat to generate derivative energy for resale and reducing the environmental impact. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 specifically directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to evaluate our heat recovery coke oven technology as a basis for establishing Maximum Achievable Control Technology (“MACT”) standards for new cokemaking facilities. In addition, each of the four cokemaking facilities that we have built since 1990 has either met or exceeded the applicable Best Available Control Technology (“BACT”), or Lowest Achievable Emission Rate (“LAER”) standards, as applicable, set forth by the EPA for cokemaking facilities at that time.
Our Granite City facility and the first phase of our Haverhill facility, or Haverhill I, have steam generation facilities, which use hot flue gas from the cokemaking process to produce steam for sale to customers pursuant to steam supply and purchase agreements. Granite City sells steam to United States Steel Corporation ("U.S. Steel") and Haverhill I provides steam, at minimal cost, to Altivia Petrochemicals, LLC. Our Middletown facility and the second phase of our Haverhill facility, or Haverhill II, have cogeneration plants that use the hot flue gas created by the cokemaking process to generate electricity, which either is sold into the regional power market or to AK Steel Holding Corporation ("AK Steel") pursuant to energy sales agreements.
Our core business model is predicated on providing steelmakers an alternative to investing capital in their own captive coke production facilities. We direct our marketing efforts principally towards steelmaking customers that require coke for use in their blast furnaces. Substantially all our coke sales are made pursuant to long-term, take-or-pay agreements with ArcelorMittal USA LLC and/or its affiliates (“AM USA”), AK Steel and U.S. Steel, who are three of the largest blast furnace steelmakers in North America, each of which individually accounts for greater than ten percent of our consolidated revenues. The take-or-pay provisions require us to produce the contracted volumes of coke and require our customers to purchase such volumes of coke up to a specified tonnage or pay the contract price for any tonnage they elect not to take. As a result, our ability to produce the contracted coke volume is a key determinant of our profitability. We generally do not have significant spot coke sales since our domestic capacity is consumed by long-term contracts; accordingly, spot prices for coke do not generally affect our revenues. To date, our coke customers have satisfied their obligations under these agreements.
Our coke sales agreements have an average remaining term of approximately seven years and contain pass-through provisions for costs we incur in the cokemaking process, including coal and coal procurement costs, subject to meeting contractual coal-to-coke yields, operating and maintenance expenses, costs related to the transportation of coke to our customers, taxes (other than income taxes) and costs associated with changes in regulation. When targeted coal-to-coke yields are achieved, the price of coal is not a significant determining factor in the profitability of these facilities, although it does affect our revenue and cost of sales for these facilities in approximately equal amounts. However, to the extent that the actual coal-to-coke yields are less than the contractual standard, we are responsible for the cost of the excess coal used in the cokemaking process. Conversely, to the extent our actual coal-to-coke yields are higher than the contractual standard, we realize gains. As coal prices increase, the benefits associated with favorable coal-to-coke yields also increase. These features of our coke sales agreements reduce our exposure to variability in coal price changes and inflationary costs over the remaining terms of these agreements. The coal component of the Jewell coke price is fixed annually for each calendar year based on the weighted-average contract price of third-party coal purchases at our Haverhill facility applicable to AM USA coke sales.
Our coke prices include both an operating cost component and a fixed fee component. Operating costs under three of our coke sales agreements are fixed subject to an annual adjustment based on an inflation index. Under our other three coke sales agreements, operating costs are passed through to the respective customers subject to an annually negotiated budget, in some cases subject to a cap annually adjusted for inflation, and we share any difference in costs from the budgeted amounts with our customers. Beginning in 2015, the operating and maintenance cost recovery mechanism in our Indiana Harbor coke sales agreement shifted from an annually negotiated budget amount with a cap to a fixed recovery per ton. Accordingly, actual operating costs in excess of caps or budgets can have a significant impact on the profitability of all of our domestic cokemaking facilities. In 2018, the operating cost component of our contract at Indiana Harbor reverts to an annually negotiated budget, which is expected to have a favorable impact on our future results. The fixed fee component for each ton of coke sold to the customer is determined at the time the coke sales agreement is signed and is effective for the term of each sales agreement. The fixed fee is intended to provide an adequate return on invested capital and may differ based on investment levels and other considerations. The actual return on invested capital at any facility is based on the fixed fee per ton and favorable or unfavorable performance on pass-through cost items.
The coke sales agreement and energy sales agreement with AK Steel at our Haverhill facility are subject to early termination by AK Steel only if AK Steel meets both of the following two criteria: (1) AK Steel permanently shuts down operation of the iron producing portion of its Ashland Plant and (2) AK Steel has not acquired or begun construction of a new blast furnace in the U.S. to replace, in whole or in part, the Ashland Plant iron production capacity. AK Steel must give at least two years prior notice of its intention to terminate the agreement. The Company finds that neither of the criteria have been met. No other coke sales contract has an early termination clause.
While our steelmaking customers continue to operate in an environment that is challenged by global overcapacity, they have benefited from improved steel pricing, favorable trade rulings, and solid end market demand in 2017. Despite recent trade actions, imported steel continues to be an issue across the industry as finished steel imports remain elevated at approximately 27 percent of U.S. steel consumption. Despite the improving macro environment, AK Steel has kept its Ashland Kentucky Works facility idled and U.S. Steel has kept portions of its Granite City Works facility idled, both since 2015.
Revenues from our Brazilian cokemaking facility are derived from licensing and operating fees, which include a fixed annual licensing fee, a licensing fee based upon the level of production required by our customer and full pass-through of the operating costs of the facility.
Logistics Operations
Our Logistics segment consists of CMT, KRT, Lake Terminal and DRT. CMT is one of the largest export terminals on the U.S. Gulf Coast. CMT provides strategic access to seaborne markets for coal and other industrial materials. Supporting low-cost Illinois basin coal producers, the terminal provides loading and unloading services and has direct rail access and the current capability to transload 15 million tons annually due to its new ship loader, placed in service during the fourth quarter of 2016. The facility is supported by long-term contracts with volume commitments covering 10 million tons of its current capacity as well as 350 thousand liquid tons. The facility recently secured additional merchant business including aggregates (crushed stone) and petroleum coke. Additionally, we secured barge unloading capabilities to efficiently unload coal, petroleum coke and other materials from barges at CMT’s dock. The addition of barge unloading capabilities complements CMT's existing rail and truck offerings and provides the terminal with the ability to transload and mix a significantly broader variety of materials. KRT is a leading metallurgical and thermal coal mixing and handling terminal service provider with collective capacity to mix and transload 25 million tons annually through its two operations in West Virginia. Lake Terminal is located in East Chicago, Indiana and provides coal handling and mixing services to SunCoke's Indiana Harbor cokemaking operations. DRT was formed in 2016 to accommodate our Jewell cokemaking facility in its direct procurement of third-party coal.
Our logistics business has the collective capacity to mix and/or transload more than 40 million tons of coal and other aggregates annually and has storage capacity of approximately 3 million tons. Our terminals act as intermediaries between our customers and end users by providing transloading and mixing services. Materials are transported in numerous ways, including rail, truck, barge or ship. We do not take possession of materials handled but instead derive our revenues by providing handling and/or mixing services to our customers on a per ton basis. Revenues are recognized when services are provided as defined by customer contracts. For CMT, cash received from customers for take-or-pay billings based on pro-rata volume commitments under take-or-pay contracts that is in excess of cash earned for services provided is recorded as deferred revenue. Deferred revenue on take-or-pay contracts is recognized into income at the earlier of when service is provided or annually based on the terms of the contract. Our handling and/or mixing services are provided to steel, coke (including some of our domestic cokemaking facilities), electric utility, coal producing and other manufacturing based customers. Services provided to our domestic cokemaking facilities are provided under contracts with terms equivalent to those of an arm's-length transactions.
The financial performance of our logistics business is substantially dependent upon a limited number of customers. Our CMT customers are impacted by seaborne export market dynamics. Fluctuations in the benchmark price for coal delivery into northwest Europe, as referenced in the Argus/McCloskey's Coal Price Index report ("API2 index price"), as well as Newcastle index coal prices, as referenced in the Argus/McCloskey's Coal Price Index report ("API5 index price"), which reflect high-ash coal prices shipped from Australia, contribute to our customers' decisions to place tons into the export market and thus impact transloading volumes through our terminal facility. Our KRT terminals serve two primary domestic markets, metallurgical coal trade and thermal coal trade. Metallurgical markets are primarily impacted by steel prices and blast furnace operating levels whereas thermal markets are impacted by natural gas prices and electricity demand.
In 2017, global thermal coal prices continued to rise to nearly $100 per ton from previous lows during early 2016, resulting in improved export economics for our CMT customers. On a spot basis, average API2 and API5 index prices in 2017 have improved 40 percent and 36 percent, respectively, as compared to 2016. In 2017, metallurgical market conditions and volumes were generally favorable, but thermal market demand was low due to weak natural gas prices and suppressed, weather-related electricity demand.
Seasonality
Our revenues in our cokemaking business and much of our logistics business are tied to long-term, take-or-pay contracts and as such, are not seasonal. However, our cokemaking profitability is tied to coal-to-coke yields, which improve in drier weather. Accordingly, the coal-to-coke yield component of our profitability tends to be more favorable in the third quarter. Extreme weather may also challenge our operating costs and production in the winter months for our domestic coke business. KRT service demand fluctuates due to changes in the domestic electricity markets. Excessively hot summer weather or cold winter weather may increase commercial and residential needs for heat or air conditioning, which in turn may increase electricity usage and the demand for thermal coal and, therefore, may favorably impact our logistics business. Additionally, at CMT, service fluctuates with global thermal coal prices and end market demand. Activity is generally lower in the third quarter, typically due to lower European demand for heat.
Raw Materials
Metallurgical coal is the principal raw material for our cokemaking operations. All of the metallurgical coal used to produce coke at our domestic cokemaking facilities is purchased from third-parties. We believe there is an adequate supply of metallurgical coal available in the U.S. and worldwide, and we have been able to supply coal to our domestic cokemaking facilities without any significant disruption in coke production.
Each ton of coke produced at our facilities requires approximately 1.4 tons of metallurgical coal. We purchased 5.6 million tons of metallurgical coal in 2017. Coal is generally purchased on an annual basis via one-year contracts with costs passed through to our customers in accordance with the applicable coke sales agreements. Occasionally, shortfalls in deliveries by coal suppliers require us to procure supplemental coal volumes. As with typical annual purchases, the cost of these supplemental purchases is also generally passed through to our customers. In 2018, certain of our coal contracts contain an option to reduce our commitment by up to 15 percent at the Company's discretion. Most coal procurement decisions are made through a coal committee structure with customer participation. The customer can generally exercise an overriding vote on most coal procurement decisions.
Transportation and Freight
For inbound transportation of coal purchases, our facilities that access a single rail provider have long-term transportation agreements, and where necessary, coal-mixing agreements that run concurrently with the associated coke sales agreement for the facility. At facilities with multiple transportation options, including rail and barge, we enter into short-term transportation contracts from year to year.
For coke sales, the point of delivery varies by agreement and facility. The point of delivery for coke sales from our Jewell and Haverhill cokemaking facilities is generally designated by the customer and shipments are made by railcar under long-term transportation agreements held by us. All delivery costs are passed through to the customers. At our Middletown, Indiana Harbor and Granite City cokemaking facilities, coke is delivered primarily by a conveyor belt leading to the customer’s blast furnace, with the customer responsible for additional transportation costs, if any. Most transportation and freight costs in our Logistics segment are paid by the customer directly to the transportation provider.
Research and Development and Intellectual Property and Proprietary Rights
Our research and development program seeks to improve existing and develop promising new cokemaking technologies and enhance our heat recovery processes. Over the years, this program has produced numerous patents related to our heat recovery coking design and operation, including patents for pollution control systems, oven pushing and charging mechanisms, oven flue gas control mechanisms and various others.
At Vitória, Brazil, where we operate one cokemaking facility on behalf of ArcelorMittal Brazil, we have intellectual property and licensing agreements in place for the entity’s use of our technology, under which we receive a per ton licensing fee as well as an annual licensing fee of $5.1 million.
We are party to an omnibus agreement with the Partnership, which grants the Partnership a royalty-free license to use the name “SunCoke” and related trademarks. Additionally, the omnibus agreement grants the Partnership a non-exclusive right to use all of our current and future cokemaking and related technology necessary for their operations.
Competition
Cokemaking
The cokemaking business is highly competitive. Most of the world’s coke production capacity is owned by blast furnace steel companies utilizing by-product coke oven technology. The international merchant coke market is largely supplied by Chinese, Colombian and Ukrainian producers, among others, though it is difficult to maintain high quality coke in the export market, and when coupled with transportation costs, coke imports into the U.S. are often not economical.
The principal competitive factors affecting our cokemaking business include coke quality and price, reliability of supply, proximity to market, access to metallurgical coals and environmental performance. Our oven design and heat recovery technology play a role in all of these factors. Competitors include merchant coke producers as well as the cokemaking facilities owned and operated by blast furnace steel companies.
In the past, there have been technologies which have sought to produce carbonaceous substitutes for coke in the blast furnace. While none have proven commercially viable thus far, we monitor the development of competing technologies carefully. We also monitor ferrous technologies, such as direct reduced iron production ("DRI"), as these could indirectly impact our blast furnace customers.
We believe we are well-positioned to compete with other coke producers. In 2017, our Domestic Coke segment accounted for approximately 25 percent of coke market capacity in the U.S. Current production from our cokemaking business is largely committed under long-term take-or-pay contracts. As a result, competition mainly affects our ability to obtain new contracts supporting development of additional cokemaking capacity, re-contracting existing facilities, as well as the sale of coke in the spot market. Our facilities were constructed using proven, industry-leading technology with many proprietary features allowing us to produce consistently higher quality coke than our competitors produce. Additionally, our technology allows us to produce heat that can be converted into steam or electrical power.
Logistics
The principal competitors of CMT are located on the U.S. Gulf Coast or U.S. East Coast. CMT is one of the largest export terminals on the U.S. Gulf Coast and provides strategic access to seaborne markets for coal and other industrial materials. CMT is the only bulk material terminal in the lower U.S. with direct rail access on the Canadian National Railway. In 2017, CMT accounted for approximately 52 percent of U.S. thermal coal exports from the U.S. Gulf Coast and approximately 18 percent of total U.S. thermal coal exports. In late 2016, CMT commissioned a new state-of-the-art ship loader, the largest of its kind in the world. We believe this ship loader has the fastest loading rate available in the Gulf Region and should allow our customers to benefit from lower shipping costs. Additionally, CMT has a strategic alliance with a company that performs barge unloading services for the terminal, which provides CMT with the ability to transload and mix a significantly broader variety of materials.
Our KRT competitors are generally located within 100 miles of our operations. KRT has fully automated and computer-controlled mixing capabilities that mix coal to within two percent accuracy of customer specifications. KRT also has the ability to provide pad storage and has access to both CSX and Norfolk Southern rail lines as well as the Ohio River system.
Lake Terminal and DRT provide coal handling and/or mixing services to our Indiana Harbor and Jewell cokemaking facilities, respectively, and therefore, do not have any competitors.
Employees
As of December 31, 2017, we have approximately 909 employees in the U.S. Approximately 39 percent of our domestic employees, principally at our cokemaking operations, are represented by the United Steelworkers union under various contracts. Additionally, approximately 3 percent of our domestic employees are represented by the International Union of Operating Engineers. While the labor agreement at our Indiana Harbor cokemaking facility expired on August 31, 2015, the parties mutually agreed to extend the terms of this agreement through August 2018, at which time the collective bargaining process will resume. We do not anticipate any work stoppages during the extended period of the agreement. In 2017, we reached a new three-year agreement for our Granite City location, which will expire on August 31, 2020.
As of December 31, 2017, we have approximately 270 employees at the cokemaking facility in Vitória, Brazil, all of whom are represented by a union under a labor agreement. In 2017, we reached a new one-year labor agreement at our Vitoria, Brazil facility which will expire on October 31, 2018. We will negotiate the renewal of this agreement in 2018 and do not anticipate any work stoppages.
Safety
We are committed to maintaining a safe work environment and ensuring strict environmental compliance across all of our operations as the health and safety of our employees and the communities in which we operate are critical to our success. We believe that we employ best practices and conduct continual training programs to ensure that all of our employees are focused on safety. Furthermore, we employ a structured safety and environmental process that provides a robust framework for managing and monitoring safety and environmental performance.
We have consistently operated within the top quartile for the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s recordable injury rates as measured and reported by the American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute.
Legal and Regulatory Requirements
The following discussion summarizes the principal legal and regulatory requirements that we believe may significantly affect us.
Permitting and Bonding
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• | Permitting Process for Cokemaking Facilities. The permitting process for our cokemaking facilities is administered by the individual states. However, the main requirements for obtaining environmental construction and operating permits are found in the federal regulations. Once all requirements are satisfied, a state or local agency produces an initial draft permit. Generally, the facility reviews and comments on the initial draft. After accepting or rejecting the facility’s comments, the agency typically publishes a notice regarding the issuance of the draft permit and makes the permit and supporting documents available for public review and comment. A public hearing may be scheduled, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") also has the opportunity to comment on the draft permit. The state or local agency responds to comments on the draft permit and may make revisions before a final construction permit is issued. A construction permit allows construction and commencement of operations of the facility and is generally valid for at least 18 months. Generally, construction commences during this period, while many states allow this period to be extended in certain situations. |
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• | Air Quality. Our cokemaking facilities employ Maximum Available Control Technology (“MACT”) standards designed to limit emissions of certain hazardous air pollutants. Specific MACT standards apply to door leaks, charging, oven pressure, pushing and quenching. Certain MACT standards for new cokemaking facilities were developed using test data from SunCoke's Jewell cokemaking facility located in Vansant, Virginia. Under applicable federal air quality regulations, permitting requirements may differ among facilities, depending upon whether the cokemaking facility will be located in an “attainment” area—i.e., one that meets the national ambient air quality standards (“NAAQS”) for certain pollutants, or in a “non-attainment” or "unclassifiable" area. The status of an area may change over time as new NAAQS standards are adopted, resulting in an area change from one status or classification to another. In an attainment area, the facility must install air pollution control equipment or employ Best Available Control Technology (“BACT”). In a non-attainment area, the facility must install air pollution control equipment or employ procedures that meet Lowest Achievable Emission Rate (“LAER”) standards. LAER standards are the most stringent emission limitation achieved in practice by existing facilities. Unlike the BACT analysis, cost is generally not considered as part of a LAER analysis, and emissions in a non-attainment area must be offset by emission reductions obtained from other sources. |
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• | Stringent NAAQS for ambient nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide went into effect in 2010. In July 2013, the EPA identified or "designated" as non-attainment 29 areas in 16 states where monitored air quality showed violations of the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS. In August 2015, the EPA finalized a new rulemaking to assist in implementation of the primary 1-hour SO2 NAAQS that requires either additional monitoring, or modeling of ambient air SO2 levels in various areas including where certain of our facilities are located. By July 2016, states subject to this rulemaking were required to provide EPA with either a modeling approach using existing emissions data, or a plan to undertake ambient air monitoring for SO2 to begin in 2017. For states that choose to install ambient air SO2 monitoring stations, after three years of data has been collected, or sometime in 2020, the EPA will evaluate this data relative to the appropriate attainment designation for the areas under the 1-hour SO2 NAAQS. For states that chose to model, designations were made by December 2017. This rulemaking required certain of our facilities to undertake this ambient air monitoring or modeling. In December 2017, EPA issued a final designation of attainment or unclassifiable for all areas where our facilities are located. These designations mean that no future action is required for the facilities with respect to SO2 emissions at this time. However, legal |
challenges to these designations are possible. If redesignated, we may be required to install additional pollution controls and incur greater costs of operating at those of our facilities located in areas that EPA determines to be non-attainment with the 1-hour SO2 NAAQS based on its evaluation of this data. In 2012, a NAAQS for fine particulate matter, or PM 2.5, went into effect. In November 2015, the EPA revised the existing NAAQS for ground level ozone to make the standard more stringent. In November 2017, EPA designated the area where the Haverhill and Jewell facilities are located as attainment/unclassifiable. In December 2017, various related litigants filed a lawsuit against the EPA claiming the agency failed to designate those areas that are not in compliance with the standard for ground-based ozone. EPA subsequently announced its intent to designate various areas of the country as nonattainment, including where the Indiana Harbor, Granite City, and Middletown facilities are located, but invited the states to submit updated air quality data to potentially change that designation. In January 2018, EPA announced its intent to designate all remaining areas of the country by April 30, 2018, but there remains a possibility of further legal action that could affect this date. These designations, whenever issued, under the new standards and any future more stringent standard for ozone have two impacts on permitting: (1) demonstrating compliance with the standard using dispersion modeling from a new facility will be more difficult; and (2) facilities operating in areas that become non-attainment areas due to the application of new standards may be required to install Reasonably Available Control Technology (“RACT”). A number of states have also filed or joined suits to challenge the EPA’s new standard in court. While we are not able to determine the extent to which this new standard will impact our business at this time, it does have the potential to have a material impact on our operations and cost structure.
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• | The EPA adopted a rule in 2010 requiring a new facility that is a major source of greenhouse gases (“GHGs”) to install equipment or employ BACT procedures. Currently, there is little information on what may be acceptable as BACT to control GHGs (primarily carbon dioxide from our facilities), but the database and additional guidance may be enhanced in the future. |
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• | Several states have additional requirements and standards other than those in the federal statutes and regulations. Many states have lists of “air toxics” with emission limitations determined by dispersion modeling. States also often have specific regulations that deal with visible emissions, odors and nuisance. In some cases, the state delegates some or all of these functions to local agencies. |
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• | Wastewater and Stormwater. Our heat recovery cokemaking technology does not produce process wastewater as is typically associated with by-product cokemaking. Our cokemaking facilities, in some cases, have wastewater discharge and stormwater permits. |
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• | Waste. The primary solid waste product from our heat recovery cokemaking technology is calcium sulfate from flue gas desulfurization, which is generally taken to a solid waste landfill. The material from periodic cleaning of heat recovery steam generators has been disposed of as hazardous waste. On the whole, our heat recovery cokemaking process does not generate substantial quantities of hazardous waste. |
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• | U.S. Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Endangered Species Act and certain counterpart state regulations are intended to protect species whose populations allow for categorization as either endangered or threatened. With respect to permitting additional cokemaking facilities, protection of endangered or threatened species may have the effect of prohibiting, limiting the extent of or placing permitting conditions on soil removal, road building and other activities in areas containing the affected species. Based on the species that have been designated as endangered or threatened on our properties and the current application of these laws and regulations, we do not believe that they are likely to have a material adverse effect on our operations. |
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• | Permitting Process for Former Coal Mining Operations. The U.S. coal mining permit application process is initiated by collecting baseline data to adequately assess and model the pre-mine environmental condition of the permit area, including geologic data, soil and rock structures, cultural resources, soils, surface and ground water hydrology, and coal that we intend to mine. We use this data to develop a mine and reclamation plan, which incorporate provisions of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (“SMCRA”), state programs and complementary environmental programs that impact coal mining. The permit application includes the mine and reclamation plan, documents defining ownership and agreements pertaining to coal, minerals, oil and gas, water rights, rights of way and surface land and documents required by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement’s (“OSM’s”) Applicant Violator System. Once a permit application is submitted to the regulatory agency, it goes through a completeness and technical review before a public notice and comment period. Some SMCRA mine permits take over a year to prepare, depending on the size and complexity of the mine, and often take six months to two years to be issued. Regulatory |
authorities have considerable discretion in the timing of the permit issuance and the public has the right to comment on and otherwise engage in the permitting process, including through public hearings and intervention in the courts. SMCRA mine permits also take a significant period of time to be transferred.
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• | Bonding Requirements for Permits Related to Former Coal Mining Operations and Coal Terminals with Surface Mining Permits. Before a SMCRA permit or a surface mining permit is issued in West Virginia, a mine operator must submit a bond or other form of financial security to guarantee the payment and performance of certain long-term mine closure and reclamation obligations. The costs of these bonds or other forms of financial security have fluctuated in recent years and the market terms of surety bonds generally have become less favorable to those entities with legacy mining obligations or terminal operators and others with such permits. These changes in the terms of such bonds have been accompanied, at times, by a decrease in the number of companies willing to issue surety bonds. As of December 31, 2017, we have posted $10.4 million in surety bonds or other forms of financial security for reclamation purposes. |
Regulation of Operations
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• | Clean Air Act. The Clean Air Act and similar state laws and regulations affect our cokemaking operations, primarily through permitting and/or emissions control requirements relating to particulate matter (“PM”) and sulfur dioxide (“SO2”) and MACT standards. The Clean Air Act air emissions programs that may affect our operations, directly or indirectly, include, but are not limited to: the Acid Rain Program; NAAQS implementation for SO2, PM and nitrogen oxides (“NOx”), lead ozone and carbon monoxide; GHG rules; the Clean Air Interstate Rule; MACT emissions limits for hazardous air pollutants; the Regional Haze Program; New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”); and New Source Review. The Clean Air Act requires, among other things, the regulation of hazardous air pollutants through the development and promulgation of various industry-specific MACT standards. Our cokemaking facilities are subject to two categories of MACT standards. The first category applies to pushing and quenching. The second category applies to emissions from charging and coke oven doors. The EPA is required to make a risk-based determination for pushing and quenching emissions and determine whether additional emissions reductions are necessary. In 2016, EPA issued a request for information and testing to our cokemaking facilities and other companies as part of its residual risk and technology review of the MACT standard for pushing and quenching, and a technology review of the MACT standard for coke ovens and charging emissions. Testing was conducted by our cokemaking facilities in 2017, but the EPA has yet to publish or propose any residual risk standards; therefore, the impact of potential additional EPA regulation in this area cannot be estimated at this time. |
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• | Terminal Operations. Our terminal operations located along waterways and the Gulf of Mexico are also governed by permitting requirements under the CWA and CAA. These terminals are subject to U.S. Coast Guard regulations and comparable state statutes regarding design, installation, construction, and management. Many such terminals owned and operated by other entities that are also used to transport coal, including for export, have been pursued by environmental interest groups for alleged violations of their permits’ requirements, or have seen their efforts to obtain or renew such permits contested by such groups. While we believe that our operations are in material compliance with these permits, it is possible that such challenges or claims will be made against our operations in the future. Moreover, our terminal operations may be affected by the impacts of additional regulation on the mining of all types of coal and use of thermal coal for fuel, which is restricting supply in some markets and may reduce the volumes of coal that our terminals manage. |
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• | Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) regulates the sales of electricity from our Haverhill and Middletown facilities, including the implementation of the Federal Power Act (“FPA”) and the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (“PURPA”). The nature of the operations of the Haverhill and Middletown facilities makes each facility a qualifying facility under PURPA, which exempts the facilities and the Company from certain regulatory burdens, including the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 2005 (“PUHCA”), limited provisions of the FPA, and certain state laws and regulation. FERC has granted requests for authority to sell electricity from the Haverhill and Middletown facilities at market-based rates and the entities are subject to FERC’s market-based rate regulations, which require regular regulatory compliance filings. |
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• | Clean Water Act of 1972. Although our cokemaking facilities generally do not have water discharge permits, the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) may affect our operations by requiring water quality standards generally and through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”). Regular monitoring, reporting requirements and performance standards are requirements of NPDES permits that govern the discharge of pollutants into water. Discharges must either meet state water quality standards or be authorized through |
available regulatory processes such as alternate standards or variances. Additionally, through the CWA Section 401 certification program, states have approval authority over federal permits or licenses that might result in a discharge to their waters. Similarly, for permitting or any future water intake and/or discharge projects, our facilities could be subject to the Army Corps of Engineers Section 404 permitting process.
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• | Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. We may generate wastes, including “solid” wastes and “hazardous” wastes that are subject to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) and comparable state statutes, although certain mining and mineral beneficiation wastes and certain wastes derived from the combustion of coal currently are exempt from regulation as hazardous wastes under RCRA. The EPA has limited the disposal options for certain wastes that are designated as hazardous wastes under RCRA. Furthermore, it is possible that certain wastes generated by our operations that currently are exempt from regulation as hazardous wastes may in the future be designated as hazardous wastes, and therefore be subject to more rigorous and costly management, disposal and clean-up requirements. Certain of our wastes are also subject to Department of Transportation regulations for shipping of materials. |
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• | Climate Change Legislation and Regulations. Our facilities are presently subject to the GHG reporting rule, which obligates us to report annual emissions of GHGs. The EPA also finalized a rule in 2010 requiring a new facility that is a major source of GHGs to install equipment or employ BACT procedures. Currently there is little information as to what may constitute BACT for GHG in most industries. We may also be subject to the EPA’s “Tailoring Rule,” where certain modifications to our facilities could subject us to the additional permitting and other obligations relative to emissions of GHGs under the New Source Review/Prevention of Significant Deterioration ("NSR/PSD") and Title V programs of the Clean Air Act based on whether the facility triggered NSR/PSD because of emissions of another pollutant such as SO2, NOx, PM, ozone or lead. The EPA has engaged in rulemaking to regulate GHG emissions from existing and new coal fired power plants, and we expect continued legal challenges to this rulemaking and any future rulemaking for other industries. For instance, in August 2015, the EPA issued its final Clean Power Plan rules establishing carbon pollution standards for power plants. In February 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of the implementation of the Clean Power Plan before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (“D.C. Circuit”) issued a decision on the rule. By its terms, this stay will remain in effect throughout the pendency of the appeals process including at the D.C. Circuit and the Supreme Court through any certiorari petition that may be granted. In October 2017, the EPA proposed to repeal the Clean Power Plan ("CPP") although the final outcome of this proposal and the pending litigation regarding the CPP is uncertain at this time. In connection with this proposed repeal, EPA issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ("ANPRM") in December 2017 regarding emission guidelines to limit GHG emissions from existing electric utility generating units. The ANPRM seeks comment regarding what the EPA should include in a potential new, existing source regulation of GHG emissions under the Clean Air Act that the EPA may propose. Depending on whether the Clean Power Plan is ultimately upheld or if another rule is promulgated in the future, it could increase the demand for natural gas-generated electricity. |
Currently, we do not anticipate these new or existing power plan GHG rules to apply directly to our facilities. However, the impact current and future GHG-related legislation and regulations have on us will depend on a number of factors, including whether GHG sources in multiple sectors of the economy are regulated, the overall GHG emissions cap level, the degree to which GHG offsets are allowed, the allocation of emission allowances to specific sources, actions by the states in implementing these requirements and the indirect impact of carbon regulation on coal prices. We may not recover the costs related to compliance with regulatory requirements imposed on us from our customers due to limitations in our agreements. The imposition of a carbon tax or similar regulation could materially and adversely affect our revenues. Collectively, these requirements along with restrictions and requirements regarding the mining of all types of coal may reduce the volumes of coal that we manage and may ultimately adversely impact our revenues.
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• | Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006. The Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006 (the “Miner Act”), has increased significantly the enforcement of safety and health standards and imposed safety and health standards on all aspects of mining operations. There also has been a significant increase in the dollar penalties assessed for citations issued. |
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• | Safety. Our facilities are subject to regulation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the United States Department of Labor and equivalent state agencies under various standards designed to promote worker safety. As noted above, we have consistently operated within the top quartile for OSHA’s recordable injury rates as measured and reported by the American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute. |
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• | Security. CMT is subject to regulation by the U.S. Coast Guard pursuant to the Maritime Transportation Security Act. We have an internal inspection program designed to monitor and ensure compliance by CMT with these requirements. We believe that we are in material compliance with all applicable laws and regulations regarding the security of the facility. |
Reclamation and Remediation
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• | Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. The SMCRA established comprehensive operational, environmental, reclamation and closure standards for all aspects of U.S. surface mining as well as many aspects of deep mining. Where state regulatory agencies have adopted federal mining programs under SMCRA, the state becomes the regulatory authority, and states that operate federally approved state programs may impose standards that are more stringent than the requirements of SMCRA. Permitting under SMCRA generally has become more difficult in recent years, which adversely affects the cost and availability of coal. The Abandoned Mine Land Fund, which is part of SMCRA, assesses a fee on all coal produced in the U.S. From October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2012, the fee was $0.315 per ton of surface-mined coal and $0.135 per ton of underground mined coal. From October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2021, the fee has been reduced to $0.28 per ton of surface-mined coal and $0.12 per ton of underground mined coal. Our reclamation obligations under applicable environmental laws could be substantial. Under accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. ("GAAP"), we are required to account for the costs related to the closure of mines and the reclamation of the land upon exhaustion of coal reserves. The fair value of an asset retirement obligation is recognized in the period in which it is incurred if a reasonable estimate of fair value can be made. The present value of the estimated asset retirement costs is capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the long-lived asset. At December 31, 2017, we had asset retirement obligation of $4.3 million related to estimated mine reclamation costs. The amounts recorded are dependent upon a number of variables, including the estimated future retirement costs, inflation rates, and the assumed credit-adjusted interest rates. Our future operating results would be adversely affected if these accruals were determined to be insufficient. These obligations are unfunded. Further, although specific criteria varies from state to state as to what constitutes an “owner” or “controller” relationship, under SMCRA the responsibility for reclamation or remediation, unabated violations, unpaid civil penalties and unpaid reclamation fees of independent contract mine operators can be imputed to other companies which are deemed, according to the regulations, to have “owned” or “controlled” the contract mine operator. Sanctions are quite severe and can include being denied new permits, permit amendments, permit revisions and revocation or suspension of permits issued since the violation or penalty or fee due date. |
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• | Black Lung Benefits Revenue Act of 1977 and Black Lung Benefits Reform Act of 1977, as amended in 1981. Under these laws, each U.S. coal mine operator must pay federal black lung benefits and medical expenses to claimants who are current and former employees and last worked for the operator after July 1, 1973. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”), which was implemented in 2010, amended previous legislation and provides for the automatic extension of awarded lifetime benefits to surviving spouses and changes the legal criteria used to assess and award claims. Our obligation related to black lung benefits at December 31, 2017 was $50.3 million and was estimated based on various assumptions, including actuarial estimates, discount rates, number of active claims, changes in health care costs and the impact of PPACA. |
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• | Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), also known as Superfund, and similar state laws, responsibility for the entire cost of clean-up of a contaminated site, as well as natural resource damages, can be imposed upon current or former site owners or operators, or upon any party who released one or more designated “hazardous substances” at the site, regardless of the lawfulness of the original activities that led to the contamination. In the course of our operations we may have generated and may generate wastes that fall within CERCLA’s definition of hazardous substances. We also may be an owner or operator of facilities at which hazardous substances have been released by previous owners or operators. Under CERCLA, we may be responsible for all or part of the costs of cleaning up facilities at which such substances have been released and for natural resource damages. We also must comply with reporting requirements under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act and the Toxic Substances Control Act. |
Environmental Matters and Compliance
Our failure to comply with the aforementioned requirements may result in the assessment of administrative, civil and criminal penalties, the imposition of clean-up and site restoration costs and liens, the issuance of injunctions to limit or cease operations, the suspension or revocation of permits and other enforcement measures that could have the effect of limiting production from our operations. Please see Note 13 to our consolidated financial statements for a discussion of the Notices of Violation ("NOVs") issued by the EPA and state regulators for our Haverhill, Granite City, and Indiana Harbor cokemaking facilities.
Many other legal and administrative proceedings are pending or may be brought against us arising out of our current and past operations, including matters related to commercial and tax disputes, product liability, antitrust, employment claims, natural resource damage claims, premises-liability claims, allegations of exposures of third-parties to toxic substances and general environmental claims. Although the ultimate outcome of these proceedings cannot be ascertained at this time, it is reasonably possible that some of them could be resolved unfavorably to us. Management of the Company believes that any liability which may arise from such matters would not be material in relation to the financial position, results of operations or cash flows of the Company at December 31, 2017.
IRS Final Regulations on Qualifying Income
Section 7704 of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code") provides that a publicly-traded partnership will be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes. However, if 90 percent or more of a partnership’s gross income for every taxable year it is publicly-traded consists of “qualifying income,” the publicly-traded partnership may continue to be treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes.
At the time of the Partnership’s initial public offering, in January 2013, the Partnership believed, and received a legal opinion to the effect, that income from its cokemaking operations would be treated as generating qualifying income under the Code. The Company and counsel believed at the time that this view was based on the correct interpretation of the Code and the legislative history of the relevant Code section, and since that time continued to believe that income from its cokemaking operations is qualifying income.
On January 19, 2017, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") issued qualifying income regulations (the "Final Regulations") on the treatment of income from natural resource activities of publicly traded partnerships as qualifying income for purposes of the Code. The Final Regulations were published in the Federal Register on January 24, 2017, and apply to taxable years beginning after January 19, 2017. Under the Final Regulations, the Partnership’s cokemaking operations have been excluded from the definition of activities that generate qualifying income.
The Final Regulations provide that if a partnership’s income from non-qualifying operations “was qualifying income under the statute as reasonably interpreted,” then that partnership will have a transition period ending on the last day of the partnership’s taxable year that included the date that is ten years after the date the Final Regulations are published in the Federal Register (i.e., December 31, 2027), during which it can treat income from such activities as qualifying income. After conferring with outside counsel, the Partnership and we are of the view that its interpretation was reasonable in concluding that the Partnership’s income from cokemaking was qualifying income, and that the Partnership will benefit from the ten-year transition period. Subsequent to the transition period, certain cokemaking entities in the Partnership will become taxable as corporations. Also see “Part I. Item 1A. Risk Factors" and Note 5 to our consolidated financial statements.
The present federal income tax treatment of publicly traded partnerships, including the Partnership, or an investment in its common units, may be modified by administrative, legislative or judicial interpretation at any time. Any
modification to the federal income tax laws and interpretations thereof may or may not be applied retroactively. Moreover, any such modification could make it more difficult or impossible for the Partnership to meet the exception which allows publicly traded partnerships that generate qualifying income to be treated as partnerships (rather than corporations) for U.S. federal income tax purposes, affect or cause us to change our business activities, or affect the tax consequences of an investment in its common units. For example, as discussed above, on January 24, 2017, Final Regulations were published in the Federal Register and apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 19, 2017. The Final Regulations will likely affect the Partnership’s ability to continue to qualify as a publicly traded partnership.
Available Information
We make available free of charge on our website, www.suncoke.com, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to such reports as soon as reasonably practicable after such materials are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").
Executive Officers of the Registrant
Our executive officers and their ages as of February 15, 2018, were as follows:
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Name | Age | Position |
Michael G. Rippey | 60 | President and Chief Executive Officer |
Fay West | 48 | Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer |
Katherine T. Gates | 41 | Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer |
P. Michael Hardesty | 55 | Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Business Development, Terminals and International Coke |
Allison S. Lausas | 38 | Vice President, Finance and Controller |
Gary P. Yeaw | 60 | Senior Vice President of Human Resources |
Michael G. Rippey. Mr. Rippey was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of SunCoke Energy, Inc. on December 1, 2017. Also on December 1, 2017, Mr. Rippey was named President and Chief Executive Officer and appointed as Chairman of the Board of SunCoke Energy Partners, GP LLC. Prior to joining SunCoke Energy, Inc., he served as Senior Advisor to Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (a leading global steelmaker), since 2015. From 2014 to 2015, he served as Chairman of the Board of ArcelorMittal USA LLC (a major domestic steel manufacturer), and from August 2006 through October 2014, he was ArcelorMittal USA LLC’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Rippey currently serves on the Board of Directors of Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZEUS), a $1.1 billion steel service center headquartered in Ohio, where he is a member of the Nominating Committee, the Compensation Committee, and the Audit and Compliance Committee.
Fay West. Ms. West was appointed as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of SunCoke Energy, Inc. in October 2014. Prior to that time, she served as Vice President and Controller of SunCoke Energy, Inc. since February 2011. In addition, Ms. West was named Vice President and Controller and appointed to the Board of Directors of SunCoke Energy Partners GP LLC, the general partner of SunCoke Energy Partners, L.P. in July 2012. Prior to joining SunCoke Energy, Inc., she was Assistant Controller at United Continental Holdings, Inc. (an airline holding company) from April 2010 to January 2011. She was Vice President, Accounting and Financial Reporting for PepsiAmericas, Inc. (a manufacturer and distributor of beverage products) from December 2006 through March 2010 and Director of Financial Reporting from December 2005 to December 2006. Ms. West is a director of Quaker Chemical Corporation (a leading manufacturer and supplier of process fluids and specialty chemicals) where she also serves as a member of its Audit Committee.
Katherine T. Gates. Ms. Gates was appointed Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, effective October 22, 2015. At that time, she also was appointed as a Director of SunCoke Energy Partners GP, LLC. Ms. Gates joined SunCoke in February 2013 as Senior Health, Environment and Safety Counsel. She was promoted to Vice President and Assistant General Counsel in July 2014, where she focused on litigation, regulatory and commercial matters. Ms. Gates began her legal career in private practice as a Partner at Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. She served on the firm’s Management Committee, where she addressed budget, compensation, commercial, and other issues. Ms. Gates also co-chaired the civil litigation section of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group.
P. Michael Hardesty. Mr. Hardesty was appointed Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Business Development, Terminals and International Coke of SunCoke Energy, Inc., effective October 1, 2015. At that time, he also
was appointed as a Director of SunCoke Energy Partners GP, LLC. Mr. Hardesty joined SunCoke Energy, Inc. in 2011 as Senior Vice President, Sales and Commercial Operations, and has more than 30 years of experience in the mining industry. Before joining SunCoke, Mr. Hardesty served as Senior Vice President for International Coal Group, Inc. (“ICG”), where he was responsible for leading the sales and marketing functions and was a key member of the executive management team. Prior to ICG, Mr. Hardesty served as Vice President of Commercial Optimization at Arch Coal, where he developed and executed trade strategies, optimized production output and directed coal purchasing activities. He is a past board member and Secretary-Treasurer of the Putnam County Development Authority in West Virginia.
Allison S. Lausas. Ms. Lausas was appointed Vice President, Finance and Controller of both SunCoke Energy, Inc. and SunCoke Energy Partners GP LLC, in October 2014. Ms. Lausas joined SunCoke Energy, Inc. in 2011 and most recently held the role of Assistant Controller. Prior to joining SunCoke Energy, Inc., she worked as an auditor at KPMG LLP, an audit, advisory and tax services firm, from 2002 to 2011, where she served both public and private corporations in the consumer and industrial markets.
Gary P. Yeaw. Mr. Yeaw was appointed Senior Vice President, Human Resources of SunCoke Energy, Inc. on November 1, 2015. Prior to that, he was Vice President, Human Resources. Mr. Yeaw leads the human resources function at SunCoke Energy, Inc., and is responsible for key organizational activities. Prior to joining SunCoke Energy, Inc., he was Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Communications for Chemtura Corporation. Mr. Yeaw also served as Vice President, Human Resources for American Standard Companies, as well as Vice President, Human Resources Operational Excellence in charge of global benefit programs, labor relations, HR systems and employee services. Mr. Yeaw holds professional designations as a Senior Human Resources Professional, Certified Compensation Professional and was a charter member of the International Society of Employee Benefits Specialists.
In addition to the other information included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the following risk factors should be considered in evaluating our business and future prospects. These risk factors represent what we believe to be the known material risk factors with respect to us and our business. Our business, operating results, cash flows and financial condition are subject to these risks and uncertainties, any of which could cause actual results to vary materially from recent results or from anticipated future results.
These risks are not the only risks we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us, or that we currently deem to be immaterial also may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
Risks Inherent in Our Business and Industry
Sustained uncertainty in financial markets, or unfavorable economic conditions in the industries in which our customers operate, may lead to a reduction in the demand for our products and services, and adversely impact our cash flows, financial position or results of operations.
Sustained volatility and disruption in worldwide capital and credit markets in the U.S. and globally could restrict our ability to access the capital market at a time when we would like, or need, to raise capital for our business including for potential acquisitions, or other growth opportunities.
Deteriorating or unfavorable economic conditions in the industries in which our customers operate, such as steelmaking and electric power generation, may lead to reduced demand for steel products, coal, and other bulk commodities which, in turn, could adversely affect the demand for our products and services and negatively impact the revenues, margins and profitability of our business.
Additionally, the tightening of credit, or lack of credit availability to our customers, could adversely affect our ability to collect our trade receivables. We also are exposed to the credit risk of our coke and logistics customers, and any significant unanticipated deterioration of their creditworthiness and resulting increase in nonpayment or nonperformance by them could have a material adverse effect on the cash flows and/or results of our operations.
Adverse developments at our cokemaking and/or logistics operations, including equipment failures or deterioration of assets, may lead to production curtailments, shutdowns, impairments, or additional expenditures, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
Our cokemaking and logistics operations are subject to significant hazards and risks that include, but are not limited to, equipment malfunction, explosions, fires and the effects of severe weather conditions and extreme temperatures, any of which could result in production and transportation difficulties and disruptions, permit non-compliance, pollution, personal injury or wrongful death claims and other damage to our properties and the property of others.
Adverse developments at our cokemaking facilities could significantly disrupt our coke, steam and/or electricity production and our ability to supply coke, steam, and/or electricity to our customers. Adverse developments at our logistics operations could significantly disrupt our ability to provide handling, mixing, storage, terminalling, transloading and/or transportation services, of coal and other dry and liquid bulk commodities, to our customers. Any sustained disruption at our cokemaking and/or logistics operations could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
There is a risk of mechanical failure of our equipment both in the normal course of operations and following unforeseen events. Our cokemaking and logistics operations depend upon critical pieces of equipment that occasionally may be out of service for scheduled upgrades or maintenance or as a result of unanticipated failures. Our facilities are subject to equipment failures and the risk of catastrophic loss due to unanticipated events such as fires, accidents or violent weather conditions or extreme temperatures. As a result, we may experience interruptions in our processing and production capabilities, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. In particular, to the extent a disruption leads to our failure to maintain the temperature inside our coke oven batteries, we may not be able to maintain the integrity of the ovens or to continue operation of such coke ovens, which could adversely affect our ability to meet our customers’ requirements for coke and, in some cases, electricity and/or steam.
Assets and equipment critical to the operations of our cokemaking and logistics operations also may deteriorate or become depleted materially sooner than we currently estimate. Such deterioration of assets may result in additional maintenance spending or additional capital expenditures. If these assets do not generate the amount of future cash flows that we expect, and we are not able to procure replacement assets in an economically feasible manner, our future results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
Impairment in the carrying value of long-lived assets and goodwill could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We have a significant amount of long-lived assets and goodwill on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Under generally accepted accounting principles, long-lived assets must be reviewed for impairment whenever adverse events or changes in circumstances indicate a possible impairment. We are required to perform impairment tests on our assets whenever events or changes in circumstances lead to a reduction of the estimated useful life or estimated future cash flows that would indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable or whenever management’s plans change with respect to those assets.
If business conditions or other factors cause profitability and cash flows to decline, we may be required to record non-cash impairment charges. Goodwill must be evaluated for impairment annually or more frequently if events indicate it is warranted. If the carrying value of our reporting units exceeds their current fair value as determined based on the discounted future cash flows of the related business, the goodwill is considered impaired and is reduced to fair value by a non-cash charge to earnings.
Events and conditions that could result in impairment in the value of our long-lived assets and goodwill include: the impact of a downturn in the global economy, competition, advances in technology, adverse changes in the regulatory environment, and other factors leading to a reduction in expected long-term sales or profitability, or a significant decline in the trading price of our common stock or market capitalization, lower future cash flows, slower industry growth rates and other changes in the industries in which we or our customers operate.
The financial performance of our cokemaking and logistics businesses is substantially dependent upon a limited number of customers, and the loss of these customers, or any failure by them to perform under their contracts with us, could materially and adversely affect our financial condition, permit compliance, results of operations and cash flows.
Substantially all of our coke sales currently are made pursuant to long-term contracts with AM USA, U.S. Steel and AK Steel, and we expect these three customers to continue to account for a significant portion of our revenues for the foreseeable future. In our logistics business, a significant portion of our revenues and cash flows are derived from long-term contracts with Foresight Energy LLC and Murray American Coal, Inc. at CMT, and we expect these two customers to continue to account for a significant portion of the revenues of our logistics business for the foreseeable future.
We are subject to the credit risk of our major customers and other parties. If we fail to adequately assess the creditworthiness of existing or future customers or unanticipated deterioration of their creditworthiness, any resulting increase in nonpayment or nonperformance by them could have a material adverse effect on our cash flows, financial position or results of operations. During periods of weak demand for steel or coal, our customers may experience significant reductions in their operations, or substantial declines in the prices of the steel, or coal products, they sell. These and other factors such as labor relations or bankruptcy filings may lead certain of our customers to seek renegotiation or cancellation of their existing contractual commitments to us, or reduce their utilization of our services.
The loss of any of these customers (or financial difficulties at any of these customers, which result in nonpayment or nonperformance) could have a significant adverse effect on our business. If one or more of these customers were to significantly reduce its purchases of coke or logistics services from us without a make-whole payment, or default on their agreements with us, or terminate or fail to renew their agreements with us, or if we were unable to sell such coke or logistics services to these customers on terms as favorable to us as the terms under our current agreements, our cash flows, financial position, permit compliance, or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Our cokemaking and logistics businesses are subject to operating risks, some of which are beyond our control, that could result in a material increase in our operating expenses.
Factors beyond our control could disrupt our cokemaking and logistics operations, adversely affect our ability to service the needs of our customers, and increase our operating costs, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. Such factors could include:
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• | geological, hydrologic, or other conditions that may cause damage to infrastructure or personnel; |
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• | fire, explosion, or other major incident causing injury to personnel and/or equipment, that causes a cessation, or significant curtailment, of all or part of our cokemaking or logics operations at a site for a period of time; |
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• | processing and plant equipment failures, operating hazards and unexpected maintenance problems affecting our cokemaking or logistics operations, or our customers; |
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• | adverse weather and natural disasters, such as severe winds, heavy rains or snow, flooding, extreme temperatures and other natural events affecting our cokemaking or logistics operations, transportation, or our customers; and |
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• | possible legal challenges to the renewal of key permits, which may lead to their renewal on terms that restrict our cokemaking or logistics operations, or impose additional costs on us. |
If any of these conditions or events occur, our cokemaking or logistics operations may be disrupted, operating costs could increase significantly, and we could incur substantial losses. Such disruptions in our operations could materially and adversely affect our financial condition, or results of operations.
We face competition, both in our cokemaking operations and in our logistics business, which has the potential to reduce demand for our products and services, and that could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
We face competition, both in our cokemaking operations and in our logistics business:
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• | Cokemaking operations: Historically, coke has been used as a main input in the production of steel in blast furnaces. However, some blast furnace operators have relied upon natural gas, or pulverized coal, and the use of these coke substitutes may increase in the future, particularly in light of current low natural gas prices. Many steelmakers also are exploring alternatives to blast furnace technology that require less or no use of coke. For example, electric arc furnace technology is a commercially proven process widely used in the U.S. As these alternative processes for production of steel become more widespread, the demand for coke, including the coke we produce, may be significantly reduced. We also face competition from alternative cokemaking technologies, including both by-product and heat recovery technologies. As these technologies improve and as new technologies are developed, competition in the cokemaking industry may intensify. As alternative processes for production of steel become more widespread, the demand for coke, including the coke we produce, may be significantly reduced. |
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• | Logistics business: Decreased throughput and utilization of our logistics assets could result indirectly due to competition in the electrical power generation business from abundant and relatively inexpensive supplies of natural gas displacing thermal coal as a fuel for electrical power generation by utility companies. In addition, competition in the steel industry from processes such as electric arc furnaces, or blast furnace injection of pulverized coal or natural gas, may reduce the demand for metallurgical coals processed through our logistics facilities. In the future, additional coal handling facilities and terminals with rail and/or barge access may be constructed in the Eastern U.S. Such additional facilities could compete directly with us in specific markets now served by our logistics business. Certain coal mining companies and independent terminal operators in some areas may compete directly with our logistics facilities. In some markets, trucks may competitively deliver mined coal to certain shorter-haul destinations, resulting in reduced utilization of existing terminal capacity. |
Such competition could have a material and adverse effect on our results of operations and therefore our ability to distribute cash to unitholders.
We are subject to extensive laws and regulations, which may increase our cost of doing business and have an adverse effect on our cash flows, financial position or results of operations.
Our operations are subject to strict regulation by federal, state and local authorities with respect to: discharges of substances into the air and water; emissions of greenhouse gases, or GHG, compliance with the NAAQS, management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, cleanup of contaminated sites, protection of groundwater quality and availability, protection of plants and wildlife, reclamation and restoration of properties after completion of mining or drilling, installation of safety equipment in our facilities, and protection of employee health and safety. Complying with these and other regulatory requirements, including the terms of our permits, can be costly and time-consuming, and may hinder operations. In addition, these requirements are complex, change frequently and have become more stringent over time. Regulatory requirements may change in the future in a manner that could result in substantially increased capital, operating and compliance costs, and could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Failure to comply with applicable regulations or permits may result in the assessment of administrative, civil and criminal penalties, the imposition of cleanup and site restoration costs and liens, the issuance of injunctions to limit or cease operations, the suspension or revocation of permits and other enforcement measures that could cause delays in permitting or development of projects or materially limit, or increase the cost of, our operations. We may not have been, or may not be, at all times, in complete compliance with all such requirements, and we may incur material costs or liabilities in connection with such requirements, or in connection with remediation at sites we own, or third-party sites where it has been alleged that we have liability, in excess of the amounts we have accrued. For a description of certain environmental laws and matters applicable to us, see “Item 1. Business-Legal and Regulatory Requirements.”
The final impacts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act could be materially different from our current estimates.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Legislation”) was signed into law on December 22, 2017. The new law made numerous changes to U.S. federal corporate tax law and is expected to reduce our effective tax rate for fiscal year 2018 and future periods. Effective January 1, 2018, the Tax Legislation lowers the U.S. corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent and prompts various other changes to U.S. federal corporate tax law, including the establishment of a territorial-style system for taxing foreign-source income of domestic multinational corporations. The tax benefit recorded in 2017 involves significant judgment and assumptions as to the impact of the Tax Legislation. Our estimated impact of the new law is based on management's current knowledge and assumptions. Recognized impacts could be materially different from current estimates based on our actual results in fiscal year 2018 and our further analysis of the new law. Because we are in the process of quantifying the impact of the Tax Legislation, we expect to record any adjustments in the next year in accordance with the guidance provided in the SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118. These adjustments could be material. The full impact of the Tax Legislation on our business, operations, and financial statements cannot be predicted at this time and we make no assurances in this regard. See Note 5 to the consolidated financial statements.
We may be unable to obtain, maintain or renew permits or leases necessary for our operations, which could materially reduce our production, cash flows or profitability.
Our cokemaking and logistics operations require us to obtain a number of permits that impose strict regulations on various environmental and operational matters. These, as well as our facilities and operations (including our generation of electricity), require permits issued by various federal, state and local agencies and regulatory bodies. The permitting rules, and the interpretations of these rules, are complex, change frequently, and are often subject to discretionary interpretations by our regulators, all of which may make compliance more difficult or impractical, and may possibly preclude the continuance of ongoing operations or the development of future cokemaking and/or logistics facilities. Non-governmental organizations, environmental groups and individuals have certain rights to engage in the permitting process, and may comment upon, or object to, the requested permits. Such persons also have the right to bring citizen’s lawsuits to challenge the issuance of permits, or the validity of environmental impact statements related thereto. If any permits or leases are not issued or renewed in a timely fashion or at all, or if permits issued or renewed are conditioned in a manner that restricts our ability to efficiently and economically conduct our operations, our cash flows or profitability could be materially and adversely affected.
We may incur costs and liabilities resulting from claims for damages to property or injury to persons arising from our operations, and such costs and liabilities could have a material and adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations
Our success depends, in part, on the quality, efficacy and safety of our products and services. If our operations do not meet applicable safety standards, or our products or services are found to be unsafe, our relationships with customers could suffer and we could lose business or become subject to liability or claims. In addition, our cokemaking and logistics operations have inherent safety risks that may give rise to events resulting in death, injury, or property loss to employees,
customers, or unaffiliated third parties. Depending upon the nature and severity of such events, we could be exposed to significant financial loss, reputational damage, potential civil or criminal government or other regulatory enforcement actions, or private litigation, the settlement or outcome of which could have a material and adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.
Our businesses are subject to inherent risks, some for which we maintain third party insurance and some for which we self-insure. We may incur losses and be subject to liability claims that could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
We maintain insurance policies that provide limited coverage for some, but not all, potential risks and liabilities associated with our business. We may not obtain insurance if we believe the cost of available insurance is excessive relative to the risks presented. As a result of market conditions, premiums and deductibles for certain insurance policies can increase substantially, and in some instances, certain insurance may become unavailable or available only for reduced amounts of coverage. As a result, we may not be able to renew our existing insurance policies or procure other desirable insurance on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. In addition, certain risks, such as certain environmental and pollution risks, and certain cybersecurity risks, generally are not fully insurable. We must compensate employees for work-related injuries. If we do not make adequate provision for our workers' compensation liabilities, or we are pursued for applicable sanctions, costs, and liabilities, our operations and our profitability could be adversely affected. Even where insurance coverage applies, insurers may contest their obligations to make payments. Our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected by losses and liabilities from un-insured or under-insured events, as well as by delays in the payment of insurance proceeds, or the failure by insurers to make payments.
Divestitures and other significant transactions may adversely affect our business. In particular, if we are unable to realize the anticipated benefits from such transactions, or are unable to conclude such transactions upon favorable terms, our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows could be adversely affected.
We regularly review strategic opportunities to further our business objectives, and may eliminate assets that do not meet our return-on-investment criteria. If we are unable to complete such divestitures or other transactions upon favorable terms, or in a timely manner, or if the market conditions assumed in our project economics deteriorate, our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows could be adversely affected.
The anticipated benefits of divestitures and other strategic transactions may not be realized, or may be realized more slowly than we expected. Such transactions also could result in a number of financial consequences having a material effect on our results of operations and our financial position, including reduced cash balances; higher fixed expenses; the incurrence of debt and contingent liabilities (including indemnification obligations); restructuring charges; loss of customers, suppliers, distributors, licensors or employees; legal, accounting and advisory fees; and impairment charges.
We may not be able to successfully implement our growth strategies or plans, and we may experience significant risks associated with future acquisitions and/or investments. If we are unable to execute our strategic plans, whether as a result of unfavorable market conditions in the industries in which our customers operate, or otherwise, our future results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
A portion of our strategy to grow our business is dependent upon our ability to acquire and operate new assets that result in an increase in our earnings per share. We may not derive the financial returns we expect on our investment in such additional assets or such operations may not be profitable. We cannot predict the effect that any failed expansion may have on our core businesses. The success of our future acquisitions and/or investments will depend substantially on the accuracy of our analysis concerning such businesses and our ability to complete such acquisitions or investments on favorable terms, as well as to finance such acquisitions or investments and to integrate the acquired operations successfully with existing operations. Antitrust and other laws may prevent us from completing acquisitions. If we are not able to execute our strategic plans effectively, or successfully integrate new operations, whether as a result of unfavorable market conditions in the industries in which our customers operate, or otherwise, our business reputation could suffer and future results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
We may experience significant risks associated with future acquisitions and/or investments.
The success of our future acquisitions and/or investments will depend substantially on the accuracy of our analysis concerning such businesses and our ability to complete such acquisitions or investments on favorable terms, as well as to finance such acquisitions or investments and to integrate the acquired operations successfully with existing operations. Antitrust and other laws may prevent us from completing acquisitions. If we are unable to integrate new operations successfully, our financial results and business reputation could suffer.
Risks associated with acquisitions include the diversion of management’s attention from other business concerns, the potential loss of key employees and customers of the acquired business, the possible assumption of unknown liabilities, potential disputes with the sellers, and the inherent risks in entering markets or lines of business in which we have limited or no prior experience. Additionally, in the event we form joint ventures or other similar arrangements, we must pay close attention to the organizational formalities and time-consuming procedures for sharing information and making decisions. We may share ownership and management with other parties who may not have the same goals, strategies, priorities, or resources as we do. The benefits from a successful investment in an existing entity or joint venture will be shared among the co-owners, so we will not receive the exclusive benefits from a successful investment. Additionally, if a co-owner changes, our relationship may be materially and adversely affected.
Security breaches and other information systems failures could disrupt our operations, compromise the integrity of our data, expose us to liability, cause increased expenses and cause our reputation to suffer, any or all of which could have a material and adverse effect on our business or financial position.
Our business is dependent on financial, accounting and other data processing systems and other communications and information systems, including our enterprise resource planning tools. We process a large number of transactions on a daily basis and rely upon the proper functioning of computer systems. If a key system were to fail or experience unscheduled downtime for any reason, our operations and financial results could be affected adversely. Our systems could be damaged or interrupted by a security breach, terrorist attack, fire, flood, power loss, telecommunications failure or similar event. Our disaster recovery plans may not entirely prevent delays or other complications that could arise from an information systems failure. Our business interruption insurance may not compensate us adequately for losses that may occur.
In the ordinary course of our business, we collect and store sensitive data in our data centers, on our networks, and in our cloud vendors. In addition, we rely on third party service providers, for support of our information technology systems, including the maintenance and integrity of proprietary business information and other confidential company information and data relating to customers, suppliers and employees. The secure processing, maintenance and transmission of this information is critical to our operations and business strategy. We have instituted data security measures for confidential company information and data stored on electronic and computing devices, whether owned or leased by us or a third party vendor. However, despite such measures, there are risks associated with customer, vendor, and other third-party access and our information technology and infrastructure may be vulnerable to attacks by hackers or breached due to: employee error or malfeasance, failure of third parties to meet contractual, regulatory and other obligations to us, or other disruptions.
Any such breach could compromise our networks and the information stored there could be accessed, publicly disclosed, lost or stolen. Any such access, disclosure or other loss of information could result in legal claims or proceedings, liability under laws that protect the privacy of personal information, and regulatory penalties, disrupt our operations, and damage our reputation, which could materially and adversely affect our business and financial position.
Our operating results have been and may continue to be affected by fluctuations in our costs of production, and, if we cannot pass increases in our costs of production to our customers, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows may be negatively affected.
Our operations require a reliable supply of equipment, replacement parts and metallurgical coal. If the cost to produce coke and provide logistics services, including cost of supplies, equipment, metallurgical coal, labor, experience significant price inflation, and we cannot pass such increases in our costs of production to our customers, our profit margins may be reduced and our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows may be adversely affected.
Labor disputes with the unionized portion of our workforce could affect us adversely. Union represented labor creates an increased risk of work stoppages and higher labor costs.
We rely, at one or more of our facilities, on unionized labor, and there is always the possibility that we may be unable to reach agreement on terms and conditions of employment or renewal of a collective bargaining agreement. When collective bargaining agreements expire or terminate, we may not be able to negotiate new agreements on the same or more favorable terms as the current agreements, or at all, and without production interruptions, including labor stoppages. If we are unable to negotiate the renewal of a collective bargaining agreement before its expiration date, our operations and our profitability could be adversely affected. A prolonged labor dispute, which may include a work stoppage, could adversely affect our ability to satisfy our customers’ orders and, as a result, adversely affect our operations, or the stability of production and reduce our future revenues, or profitability. It is also possible that, in the future, additional employee groups may choose to be represented by a labor union.
Our ability to operate our company effectively could be impaired if we fail to attract and retain key personnel.
We have implemented recruitment, training and retention efforts to optimally staff our operations. Our ability to operate our business and implement our strategies depends in part on the efforts of our executive officers and other key employees. In addition, our future success will depend on, among other factors, our ability to attract and retain other qualified personnel. The loss of the services of any of our executive officers or other key employees or the inability to attract or retain other qualified personnel in the future could have a material adverse effect on our business or business prospects. With respect to our represented employees, we may be adversely impacted by the loss of employees who retire or obtain other employment during a layoff or a work stoppage.
We currently are, and likely will be, subject to litigation, the disposition of which could have a material adverse effect on our cash flows, financial position or results of operations.
The nature of our operations exposes us to possible litigation claims in the future, including disputes relating to our operations and commercial and contractual arrangements. Although we make every effort to avoid litigation, these matters are not totally within our control. We will contest these matters vigorously and have made insurance claims where appropriate, but because of the uncertain nature of litigation and coverage decisions, we cannot predict the outcome of these matters. Litigation is very costly, and the costs associated with prosecuting and defending litigation matters could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and profitability. In addition, our profitability or cash flow in a particular period could be affected by an adverse ruling in any litigation currently pending in the courts or by litigation that may be filed against us in the future. We are also subject to significant environmental and other government regulation, which sometimes results in various administrative proceedings. For additional information, see “Item 3. Legal Proceedings.”
Risks Related to Indebtedness
We own a significant equity interest in the Partnership, and our consolidated financial statements include the Partnership’s substantial indebtedness. If effective control of the Partnership’s general partner is transferred to a third party, the Partnership’s indebtedness could become due and payable, which would materially and adversely affect our consolidated financial position.
Due to our significant equity ownership interest in the Partnership, our consolidated financial statements include the Partnership’s indebtedness. If effective control of the Partnership’s general partner is transferred to a third party, resulting in the Partnership’s aggregate indebtedness becoming payable, our consolidated financial position would be materially and adversely affected.
If effective control of the Partnership’s general partner is transferred to a third party, the Partnership, pursuant to the indenture for its outstanding senior secured notes, could be required to repurchase such notes in an amount equal to 101 percent of the aggregate principal amount outstanding, which was $700.0 million at December 31, 2017. Under the Partnership’s revolving credit agreement, the lenders could declare the loans and other amounts (including letter of credit obligations), totaling $131.9 million at December 31, 2017, to be immediately due and payable.
The Partnership faces material debt maturities which may adversely affect our consolidated financial position.
Over the next five years, we have approximately $187.3 million of total consolidated debt maturing at SunCoke and the Partnership. See Note 12 to the consolidated financial statements. We may not be able to refinance this debt, or may be forced to do so on terms substantially less favorable than our currently outstanding debt. We may be forced to delay or not make capital expenditures, which may adversely affect our competitive position and financial results.
Our indebtedness could adversely affect our financial condition and prevent us from fulfilling our obligations under our credit facilities and other debt documents.
Subject to the limits contained in our credit agreements, and our other debt instruments, we may be able to incur additional debt from time to time to finance working capital, capital expenditures, investments or acquisitions, or for other purposes. If we do so, the risks related to our level of debt could intensify. Specifically, a higher level of debt could have important consequences, including:
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• | making it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to the notes and our other debt; |
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• | limiting our ability to obtain additional financing to fund future working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions or other general corporate requirements; |
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• | requiring a substantial portion of our cash flows to be dedicated to debt service payments instead of other purposes, thereby reducing the amount of cash flows available for the payment of dividends, working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
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• | increasing our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions; |
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• | exposing us to the risk of increased interest rates as certain of our borrowings, including borrowings under the credit facilities, are at variable rates of interest; |
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• | limiting our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in the industry in which we compete; |
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• | placing us at a competitive disadvantage to other, less leveraged competitors; and |
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• | increasing our cost of borrowing. |
In addition, the credit agreement governing our credit facilities contains restrictive covenants that limit our ability to engage in activities (such as incurring additional debt) that may be in our long-term best interest. Our failure to comply with those covenants could result in an event of default which, if not cured or waived, could result in the acceleration of all our debt.
Our level of indebtedness may increase, reducing our financial flexibility.
In the future, we may incur significant indebtedness in order to make future acquisitions or to develop or expand our facilities. Our level of indebtedness could affect our operations in several ways, including the following:
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• | a significant portion of our cash flows could be used to service our indebtedness; |
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• | a high level of debt would increase our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions; |
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• | the covenants contained in the agreements governing our outstanding indebtedness will limit our ability to borrow additional funds, dispose of assets, pay distributions and make certain investments; |
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• | a high level of debt may place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that are less leveraged, and therefore may be able to take advantage of opportunities that our indebtedness would prevent us from pursuing; |
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• | our debt covenants may also affect our flexibility in planning for, and reacting to, changes in the economy and our industry; and |
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• | a high level of debt may impair our ability to obtain additional financing in the future for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, distributions or for general corporate or other purposes. |
A high level of indebtedness increases the risk that we may default on our debt obligations. Our ability to meet our debt obligations and to reduce our level of indebtedness depends on our future performance. General economic conditions and financial, business and other factors affect our operations and our future performance. Many of these factors are beyond our control. We may not be able to generate sufficient cash flows to pay the interest on our debt, and future working capital, borrowings or equity financing may not be available to pay or refinance such debt. Factors that will affect our ability to raise cash through an offering of our units or a refinancing of our debt include financial market conditions, the value of our assets and our performance at the time we need capital.
Our variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk, which could cause our debt service obligations to increase significantly.
Borrowings under the credit facilities are at variable rates of interest and expose us to interest rate risk. If interest rates increase, our debt service obligations on the variable rate indebtedness will increase even though the amount borrowed remains the same, and our net income and cash flows, including cash available for servicing our indebtedness, will correspondingly decrease. From time to time, we may enter into, interest rate swaps that involve the exchange of floating for fixed rate interest payments in order to reduce interest rate volatility.
Rating agencies may downgrade our credit ratings, which would make it more difficult for us to raise capital and would increase our financing costs.
Any downgrades in our credit ratings may make raising capital more difficult, may increase the cost and affect the terms of future borrowings, may affect the terms under which we purchase goods and services and may limit our ability to take advantage of potential business opportunities.
Risks Related to Our Cokemaking Business
If a substantial portion of our agreements to supply coke, electricity, and/or steam are modified or terminated, our results of operations may be adversely affected if we are not able to replace such agreements, or if we are not able to enter into new agreements at the same level of profitability.
We make substantially all of our coke, electricity and steam sales under long-term agreements. If a substantial portion of these agreements are modified or terminated or if force majeure is exercised, our results of operations may be adversely affected if we are not able to replace such agreements, or if we are not able to enter into new agreements at the same level of profitability. The profitability of our long-term coke, energy and steam sales agreements depends on a variety of factors that vary from agreement to agreement and fluctuate during the agreement term. We may not be able to obtain long-term agreements at favorable prices, compared either to market conditions or to our cost structure. Price changes provided in long-term supply agreements may not reflect actual increases in production costs. As a result, such cost increases may reduce profit margins on our long-term coke and energy sales agreements. In addition, contractual provisions for adjustment or renegotiation of prices and other provisions may increase our exposure to short-term price volatility.
From time to time, we discuss the extension of existing agreements and enter into new long-term agreements for the supply of coke, steam, and energy to our customers, but these negotiations may not be successful and these customers may not continue to purchase coke, steam, or electricity from us under long-term agreements. In addition, declarations of bankruptcy by customers can result in changes in our contracts with less favorable terms. If any one or more of these customers were to become financially distressed and unable to pay us, significantly reduce their purchases of coke, steam, or electricity from us, or if we were unable to sell coke or electricity to them on terms as favorable to us as the terms under our current agreements, our cash flows, financial position, permit compliance, or results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
Further, because of certain technological design constraints, we do not have the ability to shut down our cokemaking operations if we do not have adequate customer demand. If a customer refuses to take or pay for our coke, we must continue to operate our coke ovens even though we may not be able to sell our coke immediately and may incur significant additional costs for natural gas to maintain the temperature inside our coke oven batteries and fees under our rail contracts to account for reductions in inbound coal or outbound coke shipments at our plants, which may have a material and adverse effect on our cash flows, financial position or results of operations.
The coke sales agreement and the energy sales agreement with AK Steel at our Haverhill facility are subject to early termination under certain circumstances and any such termination could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated cash flows, financial position and results of operations.
The coke sales agreement and the energy sales agreement with AK Steel at our Haverhill II facility are subject to early termination by AK Steel under certain circumstances, and any such termination could have a material adverse effect on our business. The Haverhill coke sales agreement with AK Steel expires on December 31, 2021, with two automatic, successive five-year renewal periods, which are subject to termination if notice is given at least one-year prior to December 31, 2021. The Haverhill energy sales agreement with AK Steel runs concurrently with the term of the coke sales agreement, including any renewals, and automatically terminates upon the termination of the related coke sales agreement. Since January 1, 2014, the coke sales agreement may be terminated by AK Steel at any time on or after upon two years' prior written notice, if AK Steel (i) permanently shuts down iron production operations at its steel plant works in Ashland, Kentucky (the Ashland Plant) and (ii) has not acquired or begun construction of a new blast furnace in the U.S. to replace, in whole or in part, the Ashland Plant’s iron production capacity.
If AK Steel were to terminate the Haverhill AK Steel Contracts, we may be unable to enter into similar long-term contracts with replacement customers for all or any portion of the coke previously purchased by AK Steel. Similarly, we may be forced to sell some or all of the previously contracted coke in the spot market, which could be at prices lower than we have currently contracted for and could subject us to significant price volatility. If AK Steel elects to terminate the Haverhill AK Steel Contracts, our cash flows, financial position and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Excess capacity in the global steel industry, and/or increased exports of coke from producing countries, may weaken our customers' demand for our coke and could materially and adversely affect our future revenues and profitability.
In some countries steelmaking capacity exceeds demand for steel products. Rather than reducing employment by matching production capacity to consumption, steel manufacturers in these countries (often with local government assistance or subsidies in various forms) may export steel at prices that are significantly below their home market prices and that may not reflect their costs of production or capital. Our steelmaking customers, may decrease the prices they charge for steel, or take other action, as the supply of steel increases. The profitability and financial position of our steelmaking customers may be adversely affected, causing such customers to reduce their demand for our coke and making it more likely that they may seek to renegotiate their contracts with us or fail to pay for the coke they are required to take under our contracts. In addition, future increases in exports of coke from China and/or other coke-producing countries also may reduce our customers' demand for coke capacity. Such reduced demand for our coke could adversely affect the certainty of our long-term relationships with our customers depress coke prices, and limit our ability to enter into new, or renew existing, commercial arrangements with our customers, as well as our ability to sell excess capacity in the spot market, and could materially and adversely affect our future revenues and profitability.
Income from operation of the Vitória, Brazil cokemaking facility may be affected by global and regional economic and political factors and the policies and actions of the Brazilian government.
The Vitória cokemaking facility is owned ArcelorMittal Brazil. We earn income from the Vitória, Brazil operations through licensing and operating fees earned at the Brazilian cokemaking facility payable to us under long-term agreements with ArcelorMittal Brazil. These revenues depend on continuing operations and, in some cases, certain minimum production levels being achieved at the Vitória cokemaking facility. In the past, the Brazilian economy has been characterized by frequent and occasionally extensive intervention by the Brazilian government and unstable economic cycles. The Brazilian government has changed in the past, and may change monetary, taxation, credit, tariff and other policies to influence Brazil’s economy in the future. If the operations at Vitória cokemaking facility are interrupted or if certain minimum production levels are not achieved, we will not be able to earn the same licensing and operating fees as we are currently earning, which could have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.
Certain provisions in our long-term coke agreements may result in economic penalties to us, or may result in termination of our coke sales agreements for failure to meet minimum volume requirements or other required specifications, and certain provisions in these agreements and our energy sales agreements may permit our customers to suspend performance.
Our agreements for the supply of coke, energy and/or steam, contain provisions requiring us to supply minimum volumes of our products to our customers. To the extent we do not meet these minimum volumes, we are generally required under the terms of our coke sales agreements to procure replacement supply to our customers at the applicable contract price or potentially be subject to cover damages for any shortfall. If future shortfalls occur, we will work with our customer to identify possible other supply sources while we implement operating improvements at the facility, but we may not be successful in identifying alternative supplies and may be subject to paying the contract price for any shortfall or to cover damages, either of which could adversely affect our future revenues and profitability. Our coke sales agreements also contain provisions requiring us to deliver coke that meets certain quality thresholds. Failure to meet these specifications could result in economic penalties, including price adjustments, the rejection of deliveries or termination of our agreements.
Our coke and energy sales agreements contain force majeure provisions allowing temporary suspension of performance by our customers for the duration of specified events beyond the control of our customers. Declaration of force majeure, coupled with a lengthy suspension of performance under one or more coke or energy sales agreements, may seriously and adversely affect our cash flows, financial position and results of operations.
To the extent we do not meet coal-to-coke yield standards in our coke sales agreements, we are responsible for the cost of the excess coal used in the cokemaking process, which could adversely impact our results of operations and profitability.
Our ability to pass through our coal costs to our customers under our coke sales agreements is generally subject to our ability to meet some form of coal-to-coke yield standard. To the extent that we do not meet the yield standard in the contract, we are responsible for the cost of the excess coal used in the cokemaking process. We may not be able to meet the yield standards at all times, and as a result we may suffer lower margins on our coke sales and our results of operations and profitability could be adversely affected.
Failure to maintain effective quality control systems at our cokemaking facilities could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
The quality of our coke is critical to the success of our business. For instance, our coke sales agreements contain provisions requiring us to deliver coke that meets certain quality thresholds. If our coke fails to meet such specifications, we could be subject to significant contractual damages or contract terminations, and our sales could be negatively affected. The quality of our coke depends significantly on the effectiveness of our quality control systems, which, in turn, depends on a number of factors, including the design of our quality control systems, our quality-training program, our laboratories and our ability to ensure that our employees adhere to our quality control policies and guidelines. Any significant failure or deterioration of our quality control systems could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
If we are unable to realize the anticipated benefits from planned maintenance activities, oven re-builds, and additional measures to control costs at our Indiana Harbor cokemaking operations, our future financial performance, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.
Since the third quarter of 2015, when we implemented a plan to address deteriorating coke oven conditions and improve plant performance, and environmental compliance at our Indiana Harbor cokemaking operations, we have rebuilt more than half of the coke ovens at that facility. However, unexpected costs and challenges may arise and there is a risk of continuing mechanical failures and deterioration of assets leading to production curtailments, shutdowns or additional expenditures at our Indiana Harbor operations, any or all of which could significantly disrupt our coke production and our ability to supply coke to our customer.
If the implementation of these systematic planned maintenance activities to improve operating performance at Indiana Harbor (and related additional measures to control and benchmark costs) do not produce the expected benefits, our future financial performance, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.
Disruptions to our supply of coal and coal mixing services may reduce the amount of coke we produce and deliver, and if we are not able to cover the shortfall in coal supply or obtain replacement mixing services from other providers, our results of operations and profitability could be adversely affected.
Substantially all of the metallurgical coal used to produce coke at our cokemaking facilities, is purchased from third-parties under one-year contracts, except for the Jewell facility, which purchases a substantial portion of its metallurgical coal under a five-year contract with prices reset annually. We cannot assure that there will continue to be an ample supply of metallurgical coal available or that these facilities will be supplied without any significant disruption in coke production, as economic, environmental, and other conditions outside of our control may reduce our ability to source sufficient amounts of coal for our forecasted operational needs. If we are not able to make up the shortfalls resulting from such supply failures through purchases of coal from other sources, the failure of our coal suppliers to meet their supply commitments could materially and adversely impact our results of operations and, ultimately, impact the structural integrity of our coke oven batteries.
At our Granite City and Haverhill cokemaking facilities, we rely on third-parties to mix coals that we have purchased into coal mixes that we use to produce coke. We have entered into long-term agreements with coal mixing service providers that are coterminous with our coke sales agreements. However, there are limited alternative providers of coal mixing services and any disruptions from our current service providers could materially and adversely impact our results of operations. In addition, if our rail transportation agreements are terminated, we may have to pay higher rates to access rail lines or make alternative transportation arrangements.
Limitations on the availability and reliability of transportation, and increases in transportation costs, particularly rail systems, could materially and adversely affect our ability to obtain a supply of coal and deliver coke to our customers.
Our ability to obtain coal depends primarily on third-party rail systems and to a lesser extent river barges. If we are unable to obtain rail or other transportation services, or are unable to do so on a cost-effective basis, our results of operations could be adversely affected. Alternative transportation and delivery systems are generally inadequate and not suitable to handle the quantity of our shipments or to ensure timely delivery. The loss of access to rail capacity could create temporary disruption until the access is restored, significantly impairing our ability to receive coal and resulting in materially decreased revenues. Our ability to open new cokemaking facilities may also be affected by the availability and cost of rail or other transportation systems available for servicing these facilities.
Our coke production obligations at our Jewell cokemaking facility and one half of our Haverhill cokemaking facility require us to deliver coke to certain customers via railcar. We have entered into long-term rail transportation agreements to meet these obligations. Disruption of these transportation services because of weather-related problems,
mechanical difficulties, train derailments, infrastructure damage, strikes, lock-outs, lack of fuel or maintenance items, fuel costs, transportation delays, accidents, terrorism, domestic catastrophe or other events could temporarily, or over the long-term, impair our ability to produce coke, and therefore, could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
If we are unable to effectively protect our intellectual property, third parties may use our technology, which would impair our ability to compete in our markets.
Our future success will depend in part on our ability to obtain and maintain meaningful patent protection for certain of our technologies and products throughout the world. The degree of future protection for our proprietary rights is uncertain. We rely on patents to protect a significant part our intellectual property portfolio and to enhance our competitive position. However, our presently pending or future patent applications may not issue as patents, and any patent previously issued to us or our subsidiaries may be challenged, invalidated, held unenforceable or circumvented. Furthermore, the claims in patents that have been issued to us or our subsidiaries or that may be issued to us in the future may not be sufficiently broad to prevent third parties from using cokemaking technologies and heat recovery processes similar to ours. In addition, the laws of various foreign countries in which we plan to compete may not protect our intellectual property to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. If we fail to obtain adequate patent protection for our proprietary technology, our ability to be commercially competitive may be materially impaired.
Risks Related to Our Logistics Business
The growth and success of our logistics business depends upon our ability to find and contract for adequate throughput volumes, and an extended decline in demand for coal could affect the customers for our logistics business adversely. As a consequence, the operating results and cash flows of our logistics business could be materially and adversely affected.
The financial results of our logistics business segment are significantly affected by the demand for both thermal coal and metallurgical coal. An extended decline in our customers’ demand for either thermal or metallurgical coals could result in a reduced need for the coal mixing, terminalling and transloading services we offer, thus reducing throughput and utilization of our logistics assets. Demand for such coals may fluctuate due to factors beyond our control:
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• | Thermal coal demand: may be impacted by changes in the energy consumption pattern of industrial consumers, electricity generators and residential users, as well as weather conditions and extreme temperatures. The amount of thermal coal consumed for electric power generation is affected primarily by the overall demand for electricity, the availability, quality and price of competing fuels for power generation, and governmental regulation. For example, over the past few years, production of natural gas in the U.S. has increased dramatically, which has resulted in lower natural-gas prices. As a result of sustained low natural gas prices, coal-fuel generation plants have been displaced by natural-gas fueled generation plants. In addition, state and federal mandates for increased use of electricity from renewable energy sources, or the retrofitting of existing coal-fired generators with pollution control systems, also could adversely impact the demand for thermal coal. Finally, unusually warm winter weather may reduce the commercial and residential needs for heat and electricity which, in turn, may reduce the demand for thermal coal; and |
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• | Metallurgical coal demand: may be impacted adversely by economic downturns resulting in decreased demand for steel and an overall decline in steel production. A decline in blast furnace production of steel may reduce the demand for furnace coke, an intermediate product made from metallurgical coal. Decreased demand for metallurgical coal also may result from increased steel industry utilization of processes that do not use, or reduce the need for, furnace coke, such as electric arc furnaces, or blast furnace injection of pulverized coal or natural gas. |
CMT is impacted by seaborne export market dynamics. Fluctuations in the benchmark price for coal delivery into northwest Europe, as referenced in the API2 index price, influence our customers' decisions to place tons into the export market and thus impact transloading volumes through our terminal facility.
Additionally, fluctuations in the market price of coal can greatly affect production rates and investments by third-parties in the development of new and existing coal reserves. Mining activity may decrease as spot coal prices decrease. We have no control over the level of mining activity by coal producers, which may be affected by prevailing and projected coal prices, demand for hydrocarbons, the level of coal reserves, geological considerations, governmental regulation and the availability and cost of capital. A material decrease in coal mining production in the areas of operation for our logistics business, whether as a result of depressed commodity prices or otherwise, could result in a decline in the volume of coal processed through our logistics facilities, which would reduce our revenues and operating income.
Decreased demand for thermal or metallurgical coals, and extended or substantial price declines for coal could adversely affect our operating results for future periods and our ability to generate cash flows necessary to improve productivity and expand operations. The cash flows associated with our logistics business may decline unless we are able to secure new volumes of coal by attracting additional customers to these operations. Future growth and profitability of our logistics business segment will depend, in part, upon whether we can contract for additional coal and other bulk commodity volumes at a rate greater than that of any decline in volumes from existing customers. Accordingly, decreased demand for coal, or other bulk commodities, or a decrease in the market price of coal, or other bulk commodities, could have a material adverse effect on the results of operations or financial condition of our logistics business.
The geographic location of the Convent Marine Terminal could expose us to potential significant liabilities, including operational hazards and unforeseen business interruptions, that could substantially and adversely affect our future financial performance.
CMT is located in the Gulf Coast region, and its operations are subject to operational hazards and unforeseen interruptions, including interruptions from hurricanes or floods, which have historically impacted the region with some regularity. If any of these events were to occur, we could incur substantial losses because of personal injury or loss of life, severe damage to and destruction of property and equipment, and pollution or other environmental damage resulting in curtailment or suspension of our related operations.
Risks Related to Our Legacy Coal Mining Business
Our former coal mining operations were subject to governmental regulations pertaining to employee health and safety and mandated benefits for retired coal miners. Following the divestiture of our coal mining operations, compliance with such regulations has continued to impose significant costs on our business.
Our former coal mining operations were subject to strict regulation by federal, state and local authorities with respect to environmental matters such as reclamation, and to matters such as employee health and safety and mandated benefits for retired coal miners. Even after divestiture of our coal mining business, compliance with these reclamation and benefits requirements has continued to impose significant costs on us. As a former coal mine operator, federal law required us to secure payment of federal black lung benefits to claimants who were employees, and to contribute to a trust fund for payment of benefits and medical expenses to claimants who last worked in the coal industry before January 1, 1970. At December 31, 2017, our liabilities for coal workers’ black lung benefits totaled approximately $50.3 million. Our business could be materially and adversely harmed if these liabilities, including the number and award size of claims, were increased. See “Item 1. Business-Legal and Regulatory Requirements-Other Regulatory Requirements.”
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
Your percentage ownership in us may be diluted by future issuances of capital stock or securities or instruments that are convertible into our capital stock, which could reduce your influence over matters on which stockholders vote.
Our Board of Directors has the authority, without action or vote of our stockholders, to issue all or any part of our authorized but unissued shares of common stock, including shares issuable upon the exercise of options, shares that may be issued to satisfy our obligations under our incentive plans, shares of our authorized but unissued preferred stock and securities and instruments that are convertible into our common stock. Issuances of common stock or voting preferred stock would reduce your influence over matters on which our stockholders vote and, in the case of issuances of preferred stock, likely would result in your interest in us being subject to the prior rights of holders of that preferred stock.
Our ability to pay dividends on our common stock may be limited by restrictive covenants in our debt agreements and by other factors.
Our Board of Directors has suspended the Company's dividend. Any declaration and payment of future dividends to holders of our common stock will be limited by restrictive covenants contained in our debt agreements, and will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on many factors, including our financial condition, earnings, capital requirements, level of indebtedness, statutory and contractual restrictions applying to the payment of dividends and other considerations that our Board of Directors deems relevant.
Further, we may not have sufficient surplus under Delaware law to be able to pay any dividends in the future. The absence of sufficient surplus may result from extraordinary cash expenses, actual expenses exceeding contemplated costs, funding of capital expenditures or increases in reserves.
Provisions of our amended and restated articles of incorporation, our amended and restated by-laws and the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) could discourage potential acquisition proposals and could deter or prevent a change in control.
Our amended and restated articles of incorporation and amended and restated by-laws contain provisions that are intended to deter coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids and to encourage prospective acquirers to negotiate with our Board of Directors rather than to attempt a hostile takeover. These provisions include:
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• | a Board of Directors that is divided into three classes with staggered terms; |
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• | action by written consent of stockholders may only be taken unanimously by holders of all our shares of common stock; |
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• | rules regarding how our stockholders may present proposals or nominate directors for election at stockholder meetings; |
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• | the right of our Board of Directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval; |
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• | limitations on the right of stockholders to remove directors; and |
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• | limitations on our ability to be acquired. |
The DGCL also imposes some restrictions on mergers and other business combinations between us and any holder of 15 percent or more of our outstanding common stock.
We believe that these provisions protect our stockholders from coercive or otherwise unfair takeover tactics by requiring potential acquirers to negotiate with our Board of Directors and by providing our Board of Directors with more time to assess any acquisition proposal. These provisions are not intended to make us immune from takeovers. However, these provisions apply even if the offer may be considered beneficial by some stockholders and could delay or prevent an acquisition that our Board of Directors determines is in our best interests and that of our stockholders.
Any or all of the foregoing provisions could limit the price that some investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock.
A person or group could establish a substantial position in SunCoke Energy, Inc. stock.
We do not have a shareholder rights plan which may make it easier for a person or group to acquire a substantial position in SunCoke Energy, Inc. stock. Such person or group may have interests adverse to the interests of our other stockholders.
Risks Related to Our Master Limited Partnership
We own a significant equity interest in the Partnership.
We own the general partner of the Partnership, which holds a 2.0 percent ownership interest and IDRs, and we currently own a 59.9 percent limited partner interest in the Partnership. The Partnership holds a 98 percent interest in each of three entities that own our Haverhill, Ohio, Middletown, Ohio, and Granite City, Illinois cokemaking facilities and related assets. The Partnership also owns terminals and related assets that provide handling and/or mixing services of coal and other aggregates in Louisiana and West Virginia. All of the Partnership’s coke sales, and certain of its logistics services, are made pursuant to long-term, take-or-pay agreements, and our financial statements include the consolidated results of the Partnership. The Partnership is subject to operating and regulatory risks which are substantially similar to our own. The occurrence of any of these risks could directly or indirectly affect the Partnership’s, as well as our, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows as the Partnership is a consolidated subsidiary. For additional information about the Partnership, see “Cokemaking Operations” and “Formation of a Master Limited Partnership” in Business and Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Operating Results (Items 1 and 7), respectively.
We derive a portion of our cash flows from the quarterly cash distributions we receive due to our equity ownership interest in the Partnership. If the Partnership is unable to generate sufficient cash flow, its ability to pay quarterly distributions to unitholders (including us) at current levels, or to increase its quarterly distributions in the future, could adversely impact our cash position.
The Partnership’s ability to pay quarterly distributions depends primarily on cash flow. The Partnership’s ability to generate sufficient cash from operations is largely dependent upon its ability to successfully manage its business which may be affected by economic, financial, competitive, and regulatory factors beyond the Partnership’s control. To the extent the Partnership does not have adequate cash reserves, its ability to pay quarterly distributions to its common unitholders (including us) at current levels, or to increase its quarterly distributions in the future, could be adversely affected. Due to
our equity ownership interest in the Partnership, we derive a portion of our cash flows from the quarterly cash distributions we receive. If we are unable to obtain sufficient funds from the Partnership at current or increased levels, our cash position could be adversely affected.
We are party to an omnibus agreement with the Partnership that exposes us to various risks and uncertainties.
In connection with the initial public offering of the Partnership and the related contribution to the Partnership of an interest in each of our Haverhill, Ohio and Middletown, Ohio cokemaking facilities, we entered into an omnibus agreement with the Partnership. This omnibus agreement was later amended in connection with the contribution to the Partnership of an interest in our Granite City, Illinois cokemaking assets. Pursuant to this omnibus agreement, we have agreed to grant the Partnership preferential rights to pursue certain growth opportunities we identify in the U.S. and Canada and a right of first offer to acquire certain of our cokemaking assets located in the U.S. and Canada for so long as we control the Partnership’s general partner. Pursuant to this agreement, we have agreed to indemnify the Partnership for certain environmental remediation projects costs arising prior to the contribution of the interests in the Haverhill, Ohio, Middletown, Ohio and Granite City, Illinois cokemaking facilities. The omnibus agreement further provides that we will fully indemnify the Partnership with respect to certain tax liabilities arising prior to, or in connection with, the contribution of the interests in the Haverhill, Ohio, Middletown, Ohio and Granite City, Illinois cokemaking facilities, and that we will cure or fully indemnify the Partnership for losses resulting from certain title defects at the properties owned by the Partnership or its subsidiaries. Our obligations and the extent of our exposures that may arise under the omnibus agreement are subject to various contingencies and cannot be estimated with certainty at this time.
The value of our investment in the Partnership depends on the Partnership's status as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, as well as the Partnership not being subject to a material amount of entity-level taxation by individual states. The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has issued final regulations which would result in the Partnership being treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes and subject to entity-level taxation beginning January 1, 2028. In addition, the IRS may challenge the Partnership’s status as a partnership for federal income tax purposes from the time of the Partnership's initial public offering. If the IRS were to treat the Partnership as a corporation for federal income tax purposes or the Partnership were to become subject to material additional amounts of entity-level taxation for state tax purposes, then the value of our investment in the Partnership could be substantially reduced.
The anticipated after-tax economic benefit of our investment in the Partnership depends largely on the Partnership being treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. Despite the fact that the Partnership is organized as a limited partnership under Delaware law, the Partnership would be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes unless more than 90 percent of its income is from certain specified sources (the “Qualifying Income Exception”) under Section 7704 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).
On January 19, 2017, the IRS and the U.S. Department of Treasury issued qualifying income regulations (the “Final Regulations”) regarding the Qualifying Income Exception. The Final Regulations were published in the Federal Register on January 24, 2017, and apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 19, 2017. Under the Final Regulations, the Partnership’s cokemaking operations have been excluded from the definition of qualifying income activities, subject to a ten-year transition period. As a result, the following consequences might ensue:
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• | If the Partnership’s income from cokemaking operations “was qualified income under the statute as reasonably interpreted prior to May 6, 2015,” then the Partnership will have a transition period ending on December 31, 2027, during which it can treat income from its existing cokemaking activities as qualifying income. The Partnership’s transitional status during this period is likely to impair the growth prospects of the Partnership, and we do not expect that the Partnership would acquire additional cokemaking operations from third parties or from us without receipt of an IRS private letter ruling confirming the availability of the transition period as applied to the income from such an acquisition. |
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• | The IRS might challenge treatment by the Partnership of income from its cokemaking operations as qualifying income by asserting that such treatment did not rely upon a reasonable interpretation of the statute prior to May 6, 2015. If so, nothing would preclude the IRS from challenging the Partnership’s status as a partnership for federal income tax purposes from the time of the Partnership’s initial public offering. If this challenge were to occur and prevail, (i) the Partnership would be taxed retroactively as if it were a corporation at federal and state tax rates, likely resulting in a material amount of taxable income and taxes in certain open years, (ii) historical and future distributions would generally be taxed again as corporate distributions and (iii) no income, gains, losses, deductions or credits recognized by the Partnership would flow to unitholders of the Partnership. This would result in a material reduction in the Partnership’s cash flow |
and after-tax return to the Partnership’s unitholders and the recording of an income tax provision and a reduction in net income.
If, notwithstanding our confidence regarding the Partnership’s eligibility to use the transition period based on the Partnership’s belief and a legal opinion from outside counsel, the IRS were to challenge the Partnership’s eligibility to qualify for the transition period or the Partnership’s position that it has satisfied the Qualifying Income Exception from the time of its IPO, the Partnership would vigorously disagree with such a challenge, although we can provide no assurance of the Partnership’s likelihood of, or costs associated with, prevailing. For more information, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis-Final Regulations”.
A successful IRS contest of the federal income tax positions the Partnership takes may impact adversely the market for its common units, and the costs of any IRS contest could reduce the Partnership’s cash available for distribution to unitholders, including us. If the Partnership were treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes, it would pay federal income tax on our taxable income at the corporate tax rate, which is currently a maximum of 21 percent, and would likely pay state income tax at varying rates. Because tax would be imposed upon the Partnership as a corporation, its after tax earnings and therefore its ability to distribute cash to us would be substantially reduced. Therefore, treatment of the Partnership as a corporation would result in a material reduction in the Partnership’s anticipated cash flow and after-tax return to the unitholders, likely causing a substantial reduction in the value of our investment in the Partnership.
The tax treatment of publicly traded partnerships or an investment in the Partnership’s common units could be subject to potential legislative, judicial or administrative changes and differing interpretations, possibly on a retroactive basis.
The present federal income tax treatment of publicly traded partnerships, including the Partnership, or an investment in its common units, may be modified by administrative, legislative or judicial interpretation at any time. Any modification to the federal income tax laws and interpretations thereof may or may not be applied retroactively. Moreover, any such modification could make it more difficult or impossible for the Partnership to meet the exception which allows publicly traded partnerships that generate qualifying income to be treated as partnerships (rather than corporations) for U.S. federal income tax purposes, affect or cause us to change our business activities, or affect the tax consequences of an investment in its common units. For example, as discussed above, on January 24, 2017, Final Regulations were published in the Federal Register and apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 19, 2017. The Final Regulations will likely affect the Partnership’s ability to continue to qualify as a publicly traded partnership.
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Item 1B. | Unresolved Staff Comments |
None.
We own the following real property:
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• | Approximately 66 acres in Vansant (Buchanan County), Virginia, on which the Jewell cokemaking facility is located, along with an additional approximately 1,675 acres including the offices, warehouse and support buildings for our Jewell coke affiliates located in Buchanan County, Virginia, as well as other general property holdings and unoccupied land in Buchanan County, Virginia and McDowell County, West Virginia. |
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• | Approximately 400 acres in Franklin Furnace (Scioto County), Ohio, at and around the area where the Haverhill cokemaking facility (both the first and second phases) is located. |
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• | Approximately 41 acres in Granite City (Madison County), Illinois, adjacent to the U.S. Steel Granite City Works facility, on which the Granite City cokemaking facility is located. Upon the earlier of ceasing production at the facility or the end of 2044, U.S. Steel has the right to repurchase the property, including the facility, at the fair market value of the land. Alternatively, U.S. Steel may require us to demolish and remove the facility and remediate the site to original condition upon exercise of its option to repurchase the land. |
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• | Approximately 250 acres in Middletown (Butler County), Ohio near AK Steel’s Middletown Works facility, on which the Middletown cokemaking facility is located. |
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• | Approximately 180 acres in Ceredo (Wayne County), West Virginia on which KRT has two terminals for its mixing and/or handling services along the Ohio and Big Sandy Rivers. |
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• | Approximately 174 acres in Convent (St. James Parish), Louisiana, on which CMT is located. |
We lease the following real property:
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• | Approximately 88 acres of land located in East Chicago (Lake County), Indiana, on which the Indiana Harbor cokemaking facility is located and the coal handling and/or mixing facilities (Lake Terminal) that service the Indiana Harbor cokemaking facility. The leased property is inside ArcelorMittal’s Indiana Harbor Works facility and is part of an enterprise zone. As lessee of the property, we are responsible for restoring the leased property to a safe and orderly condition. |
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• | Approximately 22 acres of land located in Buchanan County, Virginia, on which our DRT coal handling terminal is located. |
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• | Approximately 25 acres in Belle (Kanawha County), West Virginia, on which KRT has a terminal for its mixing and/or handling services along the Kanawha River. |
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• | Our corporate headquarters is located in leased office space in Lisle, Illinois under an 11-year lease that commenced in 2011. |
While the Company completed the disposal of its coal mining business in April 2016, we continue to lease small parcels of land, mineral rights and coal mining rights for approximately 35 thousand acres of land in Buchanan and Russell Counties, Virginia. These leases convey mining rights to us in exchange for payment of certain royalties and/or fixed fees.
The information presented in Note 13 to our consolidated financial statements within this Annual Report on Form 10-K is incorporated herein by reference.
Many legal and administrative proceedings are pending or may be brought against us arising out of our current and past operations, including matters related to commercial and tax disputes, product liability, employment claims, personal injury claims, premises-liability claims, allegations of exposures to toxic substances and general environmental claims. Although the ultimate outcome of these proceedings cannot be ascertained at this time, it is reasonably possible that some of them could be resolved unfavorably to us. Our management believes that any liabilities that may arise from such matters would not be material in relation to our business or our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows at December 31, 2017.
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Item 4. | Mine Safety Disclosures |
While the Company divested substantially all of its remaining coal mining assets in April 2016, certain retained coal mining assets remain subject to Mine Safety and Health Administration ("MSHA") regulatory purview and the Company continues to own certain logistics assets that are also regulated by MSHA. The information concerning mine safety violations and other regulatory matters that we are required to report in accordance with Section 1503(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and Item 104 of Regulation S-K (17 CFR 229.014) is included in Exhibit 95.1 to this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
PART II
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Item 5. | Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholders Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities |
Market Information
Shares of our common stock have been trading under the stock trading symbol “SXC” on the New York Stock Exchange since July 21, 2011. The table below provides quarterly price ranges of our common stock for the two most recent fiscal years, based on the high and low prices from intraday trades.
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| 2017 | | 2016 |
| High | | Low | | High | | Low |
First quarter | $ | 11.88 |
| | $ | 8.04 |
| | $ | 6.63 |
| | $ | 2.05 |
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Second quarter | $ | 11.47 |
| | $ | 7.66 |
| | $ | 8.19 |
| | $ | 5.14 |
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Third quarter | $ | 11.25 |
| | $ | 8.20 |
| | $ | 8.20 |
| | $ | 5.52 |
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Fourth quarter | $ | 12.57 |
| | $ | 9.01 |
| | $ | 13.14 |
| | $ | 7.23 |
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Performance Graph
The graph below matches the Company's cumulative 5-Year total shareholder return on common stock with the cumulative total returns of the S&P Small Cap 600 index and the Dow Jones U.S. Iron & Steel index. The graph tracks the performance of a $100 investment in our common stock and in each index (with the reinvestment of all dividends) from December 31, 2012 to December 31, 2017.
In selecting the indices for comparison, we considered market capitalization and industry or line-of-business. The S&P Small Cap 600 is a broad equity market index comprised of companies of between $450 million and $2.1 billion. The Company is a part of this index. The Dow Jones U.S. Iron & Steel index is comprised of both U.S.-based steel and metals manufacturing and coal and iron ore mining companies. While we do not manufacture steel, we do produce coke, an essential ingredient in the blast furnace production of steel. In addition, we have logistics operations. Accordingly, we believe the Dow Jones U.S. Iron & Steel index is appropriate for comparison purposes.
Holders
As of February 9, 2018, we had a total of 72,020,630 issued shares and 64,542,973 outstanding shares of our common stock and had 11,732 holders of record of our common stock.
Dividends
In 2015, our Board of Directors suspended the Company's dividend. Any future dividends will be determined by the Company's Board of Directors on a quarterly basis and will depend on business conditions, our financial condition, earnings, liquidity and capital requirements, covenants in our debt agreements and other factors.
Company's Share Repurchase Program
On July 23, 2014, the Company's Board of Directors authorized a program to repurchase outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock, $0.01 par value, at any time and from time to time in the open market, through privately negotiated transactions, block transactions, or otherwise for a total aggregate cost to the Company not to exceed $150.0 million. There were no shares repurchased during 2017. At December 31, 2017 there was $39.4 million available under the authorized share repurchase program.
Partnership Common Unit Purchase Program
In April 2017, the Company's Board of Directors authorized a program for the Company to purchase outstanding Partnership common units at any time and from time to time in the open market, through privately negotiated transactions, block transactions, or otherwise for a total aggregate cost to the Company not to exceed $50.0 million. In July 2017, the Company's Board of Directors authorized the Company to purchase an incremental $50.0 million of Partnership common units in the open market. During 2017, the Company purchased 2,853,032 of outstanding Partnership common units in the open market for total cash payments of $48.7 million, which increased our limited partner interest in the Partnership from 53.9 percent to 59.9 percent at December 31, 2017.
Subsequent to December 31, 2017, the Company purchased an additional 132,188 of outstanding Partnership common units in the open market for total cash payments of $2.3 million, leaving a remaining common unit purchase program balance of $49.0 million as of February 15, 2018.
Partnership's Unit Repurchase Program
On July 20, 2015, the Partnership's Board of Directors authorized a program for the Partnership to repurchase up to $50.0 million of its common units. At December 31, 2017, there was $37.2 million available under the authorized unit repurchase program. There were no unit repurchases during 2017.
| |
Item 6. | Selected Financial Data |
The following table presents summary consolidated operating results and other information of SunCoke Energy and should be read in conjunction with "Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Years Ended December 31, |
| 2017(1) | | 2016(1) | | 2015(1) | | 2014 | | 2013 |
| (Dollars in millions, except per share amounts) |
Operating Results: | | | | | | | | | |
Total revenues | $ | 1,331.5 |
| | $ | 1,223.3 |
| | $ | 1,362.7 |
| | $ | 1,503.8 |
| | $ | 1,647.7 |
|
Operating income (loss)(2) | $ | 102.9 |
| | $ | 96.6 |
| | $ | 79.8 |
| | $ | (62.4 | ) | | $ | 111.3 |
|
Net income (loss)(2)(3)(4) | $ | 103.5 |
| | 59.5 |
| | $ | 10.3 |
| | $ | (101.8 | ) | | $ | 50.1 |
|
Net income (loss) attributable to SunCoke Energy, Inc.(4)(5) | $ | 122.4 |
| | $ | 14.4 |
| | $ | (22.0 | ) | | $ | (126.1 | ) | | $ | 25.0 |
|
Earnings (loss) attributable to SunCoke Energy, Inc. per common share | | | | | | | | | |
Basic | $ | 1.90 |
| | $ | 0.22 |
| | $ | (0.34 | ) | | $ | (1.83 | ) | | $ | 0.36 |
|
Diluted | $ | 1.88 |
| | $ | 0.22 |
| | $ | (0.34 | ) | | $ | (1.83 | ) | | $ | 0.36 |
|
Dividends paid per share | $ | — |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | 0.4335 |
| | $ | 0.0585 |
| | $ | — |
|
Other Information: | | | | | | | | | |
Total assets | $ | 2,060.1 |
| | $ | 2,120.9 |
| | $ | 2,255.5 |
| | $ | 1,959.7 |
| | $ | 2,213.3 |
|
Long-term debt | $ | 861.1 |
| | $ | 849.2 |
| | $ | 997.7 |
| | $ | 633.5 |
| | $ | 630.1 |
|
| |
(1) | The results of CMT have been included in the consolidated financial statements since it was acquired on August 12, 2015. CMT added combined assets of $394.6 million, $411.7 million and $426.1 million at December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. CMT contributed revenues of $71.1 million, $62.7 million and $28.6 million, as well as operating income of $42.3 million, $46.5 million and $18.4 million during 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. |
| |
(2) | In April 2016, the Company recorded losses related to the divestiture of its coal mining business to Revelation Energy, LLC of $14.7 million. During 2014, we recorded total impairment charges related to our coal mining business of $150.3 million, which included both long-lived asset and goodwill impairment charges. |
| |
(3) | During 2015 and 2014, we recorded other-than-temporary impairment charges on our investment in VISA SunCoke of $19.4 million and $30.5 million, respectively. The 2015 impairment charges brought our investment in VISA SunCoke to zero. |
| |
(4) | During 2017, the Company recorded $154.7 million of net tax benefits, $125.0 million of which were attributable to SunCoke, related to the new Tax Legislation. Additionally, during 2017, the Company recorded deferred income tax expense of $64.2 million, all of which was attributable to noncontrolling interest, related to the Final Regulations. See Note 5 to our consolidated financial statements. |
| |
(5) | On January 13, 2015 and on August 12, 2015 the Partnership acquired ownership interests in the Company's Granite City cokemaking facility of 75 percent and 23 percent, respectively. Additionally, on January 24, 2013, in conjunction with the Partnership's initial public offering, and on May 9, 2014, the Partnership acquired ownership interests in each of the Company's Haverhill and Middletown cokemaking facilities of 65 percent and 33 percent, respectively. |
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Item 7. | Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains certain forward-looking statements of expected future developments, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This discussion contains forward-looking statements about our business, operations and industry that involve risks and uncertainties, such as statements regarding our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. Our future results and financial condition may differ materially from those we currently anticipate as a result of the factors we describe under “Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors.”
This Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations ("MD&A") is based on financial data derived from the financial statements prepared in accordance with United States (“U.S.”) generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and certain other financial data that is prepared using non-GAAP measures. For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP components, see “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” at the end of this Item and Note 18 to our consolidated financial statements.
Our MD&A is provided in addition to the accompanying consolidated financial statements and notes to assist readers in understanding our results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows. Our results of operations include reference to our business operations and market conditions, which are further described in Part I of this document.
2017 Overview
Our consolidated results of operations in 2017 were as follows: |
| | | |
| Year Ended December 31, |
| 2017 |
| (Dollars in millions) |
Net income attributable to SunCoke Energy, Inc. | $ | 122.4 |
|
Net cash provided by operating activities | $ | 148.5 |
|
Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 234.7 |
|
During 2017, the Company successfully delivered against the majority of our key objectives:
| |
• | Achieved financial objectives. We delivered Adjusted EBITDA of $234.7 million, at the top end of our guidance range of $220 million to $235 million, and generated $148.5 million of operating cash flow, above our post-refinancing guidance of between $128 million and $143 million and in line with our original guidance. Domestic Coke contributed Adjusted EBITDA per ton of approximately $49, at the high-end of our guidance range of $46 to $49 per ton, on 3.9 million tons. Logistics delivered Adjusted EBITDA of $70.8 million, within our guidance range of $67 million to $72 million, reflecting the highest annual volumes in CMT’s history. |
| |
• | Refinanced our overall capital structure and deployed cash toward attractive investment opportunities. We refinanced our senior note obligations at both the Company and the Partnership and extended revolver maturities by more than 4 years to nearly 7 years remaining. Our current capital structure now provides us with significant flexibility to execute our growth, operating and capital allocation priorities going forward. We also purchased 2.9 million Partnership common units for $48.7 million, increasing our limited interest from 53.9 percent to 59.9 percent. Assuming distributions per unit from the Partnership remain consistent, the Company expects to save $7 million annually on total distributions paid to public unitholders. |
| |
• | Expanded Logistics customer and product mix. We secured new volumes at CMT, expanding into aggregates (crushed stone) and petroleum coke, which contributed $1.5 million of Adjusted EBITDA. We also secured barge unloading capabilities at CMT, which provide the terminal with the ability to transload and mix a significantly broader variety of materials. |
| |
• | Completed 58 oven rebuilds at Indiana Harbor. We have now rebuilt a total of 144 total ovens at our Indiana Harbor facility, more than half of the entire facility, and remain encouraged by the performance in charge weights and coking times on the rebuilt ovens. As a result of lost production from planned ovens out of service and operating and maintenance expense on the oven rebuilds, we expected Adjusted EBITDA losses at Indiana Harbor of approximately $13 million in 2017. However, in the fourth quarter of 2017, planned oven rebuilds were out of service longer than anticipated. Additionally, we experienced faster than anticipated degradation of certain non- |
rebuilt ovens. Both of these factors drove lower production than anticipated, which resulted in additional losses of $5.5 million beyond our Adjusted EBITDA guidance.
Our Focus and Outlook for 2018
During 2018, our primary focus will be to:
| |
• | Accomplish our 2018 financial objectives. We expect to deliver Adjusted EBITDA of between $240 million and $255 million and operating cash flow of between $150 million and $165 million. Significant improvement at Indiana Harbor and solid ongoing operations across the remaining Domestic Coke fleet are expected to drive Adjusted EBITDA per ton of approximately $50 to $52 on approximately 3.9 million tons of coke. Logistics is expected to continue to grow and to deliver Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $71 million to $76 million. |
| |
• | Deliver operational excellence and optimize our asset base. We will continue to work with new and existing customers to fully utilize our existing cokemaking and logistics capacity. We plan to leverage CMT's capabilities to diversify its customer base and product mix to secure new business, which we expect will contribute to our plan of securing an additional $5 million to $10 million of Adjusted EBITDA in the next two years. We also remain committed to maintaining a safe work environment and expect to substantially complete the Granite City gas sharing environmental remediation project. |
| |
• | Complete 67 oven rebuilds at Indiana Harbor. We expect our Indiana Harbor cokemaking operation to deliver near break-even results on 870 thousand to 900 thousand tons of coke sales. The 2018 rebuilds are expected to cost approximately $30 million to $35 million, including capital expenditures of approximately $25 million to $30 million. Longer-term, we anticipate increased production from the rebuilt ovens and improved operating and maintenance spending as the oven rebuild campaign comes to an end. |
Items Impacting Comparability
| |
• | Debt Activities. During 2017, the Partnership refinanced its debt obligations and the Company extended the maturity of its Revolving Facility and reduced its borrowing capacity to $100.0 million. As a result of the debt refinancing, 2017 included a loss on extinguishment of debt on the Consolidated Statement of Operations of $20.4 million. See further discussion of these activities in Note 12 to our consolidated financial statements and discussion in "Liquidity and Capital Resources." |
During 2016 and 2015, the Partnership de-levered its balance sheet by repurchasing $89.5 million and $47.5 million face value 2020 Partnership Notes, resulting in gains on debt extinguishment of $25.0 million and $12.1 million on the Consolidated Statement of Operations during 2016 and 2015, respectively. Additionally, during 2015, we contributed 98 percent interest in Granite City to the Partnership. In connection with the related financing, the Partnership incurred losses on extinguishment of debt of $11.4 million in 2015.
As a result of the above debt activities, weighted average debt balances during 2017, 2016 and 2015 were $885.4 million, $920.2 million and $819.6 million, respectively, and interest expense, net was $60.6 million, $53.5 million and $56.2 million, respectively. The increase in interest expense, net in 2017 as compared to 2016 was driven by higher interest rates as a result of the Partnership's debt refinancing activities as well as lower capitalized interest, partially offset by lower average debt balances. The decrease in interest expense, net in 2016 as compared to 2015 was the result of favorable interest rates on new debt as compared to rates on debt repurchased, partially offset by interest on higher average debt balances.
| |
◦ | Tax Legislation. On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Legislation”) was enacted. The Tax Legislation significantly revises the U.S. corporate income tax structure, including lowering corporate income tax rates. As a result, in 2017, SunCoke recorded net income tax benefits of $154.7 million, of which $125.0 million was attributable to the Company, resulting from the remeasurement of U.S. deferred income tax liabilities and assets at the lower enacted corporate tax rates. See Note 5 to our consolidated financial statements. |
| |
◦ | IRS Final Regulations on Qualifying Income. In January 2017, the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") announced its decision to exclude cokemaking as a qualifying income generating activity in its final regulations (the "Final Regulations") issued under section 7704(d)(1)(E) of the Internal Revenue Code relating to the qualifying income exception for publicly traded partnerships. Subsequent to the 10-year transition period, certain cokemaking entities in the Partnership will become taxable as corporations. As a result, the Partnership recorded deferred income tax expense of $148.6 million to set up its initial |
deferred income tax liability during 2017, primarily related to differences in the book and tax basis of fixed assets, which are expected to exist at the end of the 10-year transition period when the cokemaking operations become taxable. However, the Company had previously recorded $84.4 million of the deferred income tax liability in its financial statements related to the Company's share of the deferred tax liability for the book and tax differences in its investment in the Partnership. As such, the Company's 2017 financial statements reflect the $64.2 million incremental impact from the Final Regulations solely attributable to the Partnership’s public unitholders, which was also recorded as an equal reduction to noncontrolling interest. As a result, the Final Regulations have no impact to net income attributable to the Company.
| |
• | Terminated the Potential New Cokemaking Facility Project. We continue to have regular discussions with our customers regarding their respective long-term coke requirements. However, our ability to construct a new cokemaking facility, or enter into new commercial arrangements with our coke customers, is subject to our customers' decisions with respect to their own cokemaking assets, their outlook for their coke requirements and general domestic steel industry and market conditions. Our ongoing focus is to renew our existing customers' contracts in the upcoming years. |
In 2014, we finalized the required permitting and engineering plan for a potential new cokemaking facility to be constructed in Kentucky. However, in June 2017, due to our focus on renewing our existing customer contracts and the lack of any long-term customer commitment for a majority of the facility's capacity, we decided to terminate the project. As a result, during 2017, the Company wrote-off previously capitalized engineering cost and land deposits of $5.3 million. During 2016, the Company wrote-off expiring land deposits related to the project of $1.9 million. These costs were included in selling, general and administrative expenses on the Consolidated Statements of Operations.
| |
• | Convent Marine Terminal Acquisition. Comparability between periods was impacted by the acquisition of CMT on August 12, 2015. CMT results in periods presented were as follows: |
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Years Ended December 31, |
| 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 |
| (Dollars in millions) |
Total revenues | $ | 71.1 |
| | $ | 62.7 |
| | $ | 28.6 |
|
Cost of products sold and operating expenses(1) | 11.9 |
| | 1.3 |
| | 4.7 |
|
Depreciation and amortization expense | 16.8 |
| | 14.8 |
| | 5.4 |
|
Adjusted EBITDA | 57.4 |
| | 50.5 |
| | 20.6 |
|
| |
(1) | Includes $1.7 million and $10.1 million of favorable fair value adjustments to our contingent consideration liability in 2017 and 2016, respectively. |
| |
• | Redemption of Investment in Brazilian Cokemaking Operations. On November 28, 2016, ArcelorMittal Brazil redeemed SunCoke’s indirectly held preferred and common equity interest in Sol Coqueria Tubarão S.A. ("Brazil Investment") for consideration of $41.0 million, an amount equal to our carrying value of the investment. The Company received $20.5 million in cash at closing in 2016 and received the remaining $20.5 million in cash, plus interest of $0.2 million, in 2017. With the redemption of the Brazil Investment, the Company no longer receives the $9.5 million annual preferred dividend. Additionally, in 2016, SunCoke added certain new patents to its existing intellectual property licensing agreement for which SunCoke now earns an incremental $5.1 million in annual licensing fees through 2023. The Company also extended the life of its patents with the Brazilian authorities through 2033, providing opportunity to extend the existing licensing agreement beyond 2023. Overall, these transactions resulted in a redemption of the investment and a reduction of $4.4 million to total revenues and Adjusted EBITDA in 2016 and each subsequent year through the end of the contract. |
| |
• | Loss on Divestiture of Business and Impairments. In April 2016, the Company completed the disposal of its coal mining business to Revelation Energy, LLC ("Revelation"). Revelation assumed substantially all of the Company's remaining coal mining assets, mineral leases, real estate and a substantial portion of our mining reclamation obligations. Under the terms of the agreement, Revelation received $12.8 million from the Company to take ownership of the assets and liabilities. During 2016, the Company recognized losses associated with this divestiture of $14.7 million. Cost savings due to the absence of the coal mining operations |
improved Adjusted EBITDA results by $8.4 million in 2016 as compared to 2015 and an additional $2.5 million in 2017 as compared to 2016.
| |
• | Pension Plan Termination. Effective May 30, 2014, Dominion Coal Corporation ("Dominion Coal"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, terminated its defined benefit plan, which was previously offered generally to all full-time employees of Dominion Coal. In June 2015, the plan settled its obligations by purchasing annuities using plan assets, which triggered settlement accounting and resulted in a non-cash loss of $12.6 million recorded in cost of products sold and operating expenses on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. |
| |
• | India Equity Method Investment. As a result of market conditions, we recorded impairment charges of $19.4 million related to our equity method investment in VISA SunCoke during 2015, included in loss from equity method investment on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The 2015 impairment brought our investment in VISA SunCoke to zero, and consequently, we no longer include our share of VISA SunCoke in our financial results. See Note 17 to our consolidated financial statements. |
Consolidated Results of Operations
The following section includes analysis of consolidated results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015. See "Analysis of Segment Results" later in this section for further details of these results. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Years Ended December 31, | | Increase (Decrease) |
| 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 | | 2017 vs. 2016 | | 2016 vs. 2015 |
| (Dollars in millions) |
Revenues | | | | | | | | | |
Sales and other operating revenue | $ | 1,331.5 |
| | $ | 1,223.3 |
| | $ | 1,362.7 |
| | $ | 108.2 |
| | $ | (139.4 | ) |
Costs and operating expenses | | | | | | | | | |
Cost of products sold and operating expenses | 1,020.8 |
| | 906.5 |
| | 1,098.4 |
| | 114.3 |
| | (191.9 | ) |
Selling, general and administrative expenses | 79.6 |
| | 91.3 |
| | 75.4 |
| | (11.7 | ) | | 15.9 |
|
Depreciation and amortization expense | 128.2 |
| | 114.2 |
| | 109.1 |
| | 14.0 |
| | 5.1 |
|
Loss on divestiture of business and impairments(1) | — |
| | 14.7 |
| | — |
| | (14.7 | ) | | 14.7 |
|
Total costs and operating expenses | 1,228.6 |
| | 1,126.7 |
| | 1,282.9 |
| | 101.9 |
| | (156.2 | ) |
Operating income | 102.9 |
| | 96.6 |
| | 79.8 |
| | 6.3 |
| | 16.8 |
|
Interest expense, net(1) | 60.6 |
| | 53.5 |
| | 56.2 |
| | 7.1 |
| | (2.7 | ) |
Loss (gain) on extinguishment of debt, net(1) | 20.4 |
| | (25.0 | ) | | 0.5 |
| | 45.4 |
| | (25.5 | ) |
Income before income tax (benefit) expense and loss from equity method investment | 21.9 |
| | 68.1 |
| | 23.1 |
| | (46.2 | ) | | 45.0 |
|
Income tax (benefit) expense | (81.6 | ) | | 8.6 |
| | (8.8 | ) | | (90.2 | ) | | 17.4 |
|
Loss from equity method investment(1) | — |
| | — |
| | 21.6 |
| | — |
| | (21.6 | ) |
Net income | 103.5 |
| | 59.5 |
| | 10.3 |
| | 44.0 |
| | 49.2 |
|
Less: Net (loss) income attributable to noncontrolling interests | (18.9 | ) | | 45.1 |
| | 32.3 |
| | (64.0 | ) | | 12.8 |
|
Net income (loss) attributable to SunCoke Energy, Inc. | $ | 122.4 |
| | $ | 14.4 |
| | $ | (22.0 | ) | | $ | 108.0 |
| | $ | 36.4 |
|
| |
(1) | See year-over-year changes described in "Items Impacting Comparability." |
Sales and Other Operating Revenue. The increase in sales and other operating revenue in 2017 as compared to the prior year was primarily due to the pass-through of higher coal prices in our Domestic Coke segment as well as higher sales volumes in our Logistics segment partially offset by lower sales volumes in our Domestic Coke segment. The decrease in sales and other operating revenues in 2016 as compared to 2015 primarily reflects the pass-through of lower coal prices in our Domestic Coke segment as well as lower sales volumes in both our Domestic Coke and Logistics segments, excluding the contributions of CMT. These decreases in 2016 were partly offset by a full year of contributions from CMT, increasing sales and other operating revenue $34.1 million as compared to 2015.
Cost of Products Sold and Operating Expenses. The increase in cost of products sold and operating expense in 2017 was primarily due to higher coal costs associated with higher coal prices in our Domestic Coke segment as compared to 2016. The decrease in cost of products sold and operating expense in 2016 was primarily due to the result of reduced coal costs in our Domestic Coke segment as compared to 2015. Additionally, black lung charges of $9.8 million in 2015 were recorded in costs of products sold and operating expenses. Beginning in 2016, with our exit from the coal mining business, black lung charges were recorded in selling, general and administrative expenses, which resulted in a favorable impact to cost of products sold and operating expenses in 2016 compared to 2015. Adjustments to our contingent consideration liability decreased cost of products sold and operating expenses by $1.7 million and $10.1 million in 2017 and 2016, respectively. See Note 17 to our consolidated financial statements.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. The decrease in selling, general and administrative expense in 2017 was driven by lower employee-related and other costs, lower costs to resolve certain legal matters and lower professional service fees, which together decreased selling, general and administrative expense by $12.4 million in 2017 as compared to 2016. These benefits were partially offset by the year-over-year impact of the expiration of land deposits and the write-off of costs associated with the termination of our project for a potential new cokemaking facility previously discussed in "Items Impacting Comparability." The increase in selling, general and administrative expense in 2016 as compared to 2015 was primarily driven by $8.1 million of black lung charges in 2016, as black lung charges were included in cost of products sold
and operating expenses prior to 2016, as discussed above. The remaining increase was driven by unfavorable fair value adjustments in deferred compensation as a result of changes in certain performance metrics and changes in the Company’s share price and Partnership's unit price as well as the absence of a $4.0 million postretirement benefit plan curtailment gain recognized in 2015.
Depreciation and Amortization Expense. The increase in depreciation and amortization expense during 2017 was impacted by depreciation expense on the new ship loader at CMT and certain environmental remediation assets at our Haverhill cokemaking facility, both placed in service during the fourth quarter of 2016. The increase in depreciation and amortization expense in 2016 was driven by a full year of depreciation of CMT assets of $14.8 million in 2016 compared to depreciation expense of $5.4 million in 2015, as CMT was acquired in August 2015. CMT depreciation was mostly offset by lower depreciation of our coal mining assets, which decreased as a result of the disposal of our assets in April 2016. Depreciation and amortization expense in each year was also impacted by revisions to the remaining useful lives of certain assets, primarily related to certain assets in our Domestic Coke segment and the closure of our former coal preparation plant, which resulted in additional depreciation of $22.4 million, $13.7 million and $15.1 million, or $0.35, $0.17 and $0.21 per common share from operations, during 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.
Income Taxes. Income tax benefit was $81.6 million and $8.8 million in 2017 and 2015, respectively, while 2016 had income tax expense of $8.6 million. The periods presented are not comparable as 2017 included net impacts to the Company’s deferred tax expense of $64.2 million associated with the Final Regulations as well as the $154.7 million tax benefit related to the Tax Legislation, both previously discussed in "Items Impacting Comparability." Additionally, the income tax benefit recorded in 2015 related to the insolvency of a subsidiary. See Note 5 to the consolidated financial statements.
Noncontrolling Interest. Income attributable to noncontrolling interest represents the common public unitholders' interest in SunCoke Energy Partners, L.P. as well as a third-party interest in our Indiana Harbor cokemaking facility. The following table provides details into net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Years Ended December 31 |
| | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 |
Net (loss) income attributable to the Partnership's common public unitholders'(1)(2) | | $ | (13.5 | ) | | $ | 46.1 |
| | $ | 34.1 |
|
Net loss attributable to third-party interest in our Indiana Harbor cokemaking facility(3) | | (5.4 | ) | | (1.0 | ) | | (1.8 | ) |
Net (loss) income attributable to noncontrolling interest | | $ | (18.9 | ) | | $ | 45.1 |
| | $ | 32.3 |
|
| |
(1) | The decrease during the year ended December 31, 2017 as compared to 2016 was primarily due to the impacts of the IRS Final Regulations, which resulted in the Partnership becoming taxable at the end of the 10-year transition period, as well as the Partnership's loss on extinguishment of debt in 2017 and the absence of the Partnership's gain on extinguishment of debt in 2016. These impacts were partially offset by the Tax Legislation in 2017, which lowered corporate income tax rates. See "Items Impacting Comparability" for further discussion. |
| |
(2) | The increase during the year ended December 31, 2016 as compared to 2015 was primarily due to the Partnership's gain on extinguishment of debt due to its de-levering activities previously described in "Items Impacting Comparability." |
(3) The decrease during the year ended December 31, 2017 as compared to 2016 was primarily driven by lower volumes and higher operating and maintenance spending as a result of ovens out of service associated with the Indiana Harbor oven rebuild initiative.
Results of Reportable Business Segments
We report our business results through three segments:
| |
• | Domestic Coke consists of our Jewell Coke Company, L.P. ("Jewell"), Indiana Harbor Coke Company ("Indiana Harbor"), Haverhill Coke Company LLC ("Haverhill"), Gateway Energy and Coke Company, LLC ("Granite City") and Middletown Coke Company, LLC ("Middletown") cokemaking and heat recovery operations located in Vansant, Virginia; East Chicago, Indiana; Franklin Furnace, Ohio; Granite City, Illinois; and Middletown, Ohio, respectively. |
| |
• | Brazil Coke consists of our operations in Vitória, Brazil, where we operate a cokemaking facility, ArcelorMittal Brasil S.A. ("ArcelorMittal Brazil”), for a Brazilian subsidiary of ArcelorMittal S.A.; |
| |
• | Logistics consists of Convent Marine Terminal ("CMT"), Kanawha River Terminals, LLC ("KRT"), SunCoke Lake Terminal, LLC ("Lake Terminal"), and Dismal River Terminal, LLC ("DRT") providing handling and/or |
mixing services in Convent, Louisiana; Ceredo and Belle, West Virginia; East Chicago, Indiana; and Vansant, Virginia. Lake Terminal and DRT are located adjacent to our Indiana Harbor and Jewell cokemaking facilities, respectively.
The operations of each of our segments are described in Part I of this document.
Corporate expenses that can be identified with a segment have been included in determining segment results. The remainder is included in Corporate and Other, including activity from our legacy coal mining business, which was historically presented as a reportable segment. Prior year periods have been recasted to reflect current presentation.
Management believes Adjusted EBITDA is an important measure of operating performance and liquidity and uses it as the primary basis for the chief operating decision maker to evaluate the performance of each of our reportable segments. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered a substitute for the reported results prepared in accordance with GAAP. See Note 18 to our consolidated financial statements.
Segment Operating Data
The following table sets forth financial and operating data by segment for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015: |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Years Ended December 31, | | Increase (Decrease) |
| 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 | | 2017 vs. 2016 | | 2016 vs. 2015 |
| (Dollars in millions, except per ton amounts) |
Sales and other operating revenue: | | | | | | | | | |
Domestic Coke | $ | 1,195.0 |
| | $ | 1,097.6 |
| | $ | 1,244.1 |
| | $ | 97.4 |
| | $ | (146.5 | ) |
Brazil Coke | 43.4 |
| | 39.5 |
| | 43.4 |
| | 3.9 |
| | (3.9 | ) |
Logistics | 93.1 |
| | 84.7 |
| | 60.8 |
| | 8.4 |
| | 23.9 |
|
Logistics intersegment sales | 23.8 |
| | 23.2 |
| | 20.4 |
| | 0.6 |
| | 2.8 |
|
Corporate and Other(1) | — |
| | 1.5 |
| | 14.4 |
| | (1.5 | ) | | (12.9 | ) |
Corporate and Other intersegment sales(1) | — |
| | 22.0 |
| | 101.0 |
| | (22.0 | ) | | (79.0 | ) |
Elimination of intersegment sales | (23.8 | ) | | (45.2 | ) | | (121.4 | ) | | 21.4 |
| | 76.2 |
|
Total sales and other operating revenue | $ | 1,331.5 |
| | $ | 1,223.3 |
| | $ | 1,362.7 |
| | $ | 108.2 |
| | $ | (139.4 | ) |
Adjusted EBITDA(2): | | | | | | | | | |
Domestic Coke | $ | 188.9 |
| | $ | 193.9 |
| | $ | 210.1 |
| | $ | (5.0 | ) | | $ | (16.2 | ) |
Brazil Coke | 18.2 |
| | 16.2 |
| | 22.4 |
| | 2.0 |
| | (6.2 | ) |
Logistics | 70.8 |
| | 63.9 |
|
| 38.0 |
| | 6.9 |
| | 25.9 |
|
Corporate and Other, including legacy costs, net(3) | (43.2 | ) | | (57.0 | ) | | (85.1 | ) | | 13.8 |
| | 28.1 |
|
Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 234.7 |
| | $ | 217.0 |
| | $ | 185.4 |
| | $ | 17.7 |
| | $ | 31.6 |
|
Coke Operating Data: | | |
| | | | | | |
Domestic Coke capacity utilization (%) | 91 |
| | 93 |
| | 97 |
| | (2 | ) | | (4 | ) |
Domestic Coke production volumes (thousands of tons) | 3,861 |
| | 3,954 |
| | 4,122 |
| | (93 | ) | | (168 | ) |
Domestic Coke sales volumes (thousands of tons) | 3,851 |
| | 3,956 |
| | 4,115 |
| | (105 | ) | | (159 | ) |
Domestic Coke Adjusted EBITDA per ton(4) | $ | 49.05 |
| | $ | 49.01 |
| | $ | 51.06 |
| | $ | 0.04 |
| | $ | (2.05 | ) |
Brazilian Coke production—operated facility (thousands of tons) | 1,761 |
| | 1,741 |
| | 1,760 |
| | 20 |
| | (19 | ) |
Logistics Operating Data: | | | | | | | | | |
Tons handled (thousands of tons)(5) | 21,616 |
| | 18,569 |
| | 18,864 |
| | 3,047 |
| | (295 | ) |
CMT take-or-pay shortfall tons (thousands of tons)(6) | 2,918 |
| | 6,076 |
| | 1,291 |
| | (3,158 | ) | | 4,785 |
|
| |
(1) | Corporate and Other revenues are related to our legacy coal mining business. |
| |
(2) | See Note 18 in our consolidated financial statements for both the definition of Adjusted EBITDA and the reconciliations from GAAP to the non-GAAP measurement for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015. |
| |
(3) | Corporate and Other includes the activity from our legacy coal mining business, which incurred Adjusted EBITDA losses of $10.5 million, $15.0 million, and $40.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. |
| |
(4) | Reflects Domestic Coke Adjusted EBITDA divided by Domestic Coke sales volumes. |
| |
(5) | Reflects inbound tons handled during the period. |
| |
(6) | Reflects tons billed under take-or-pay contracts where services were not performed. |
Analysis of Segment Results
Domestic Coke
The following table explains year-over-year changes in our Domestic Coke segment's sales and other operating revenues and Adjusted EBITDA results: |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Sales and other operating revenue | | Adjusted EBITDA |
| 2017 vs. 2016 | | 2016 vs. 2015 | | 2017 vs. 2016 | | 2016 vs. 2015 |
| (Dollars in millions) |
Beginning | $ | 1,097.6 |
| | $ | 1,244.1 |
| | $ | 193.9 |
| | $ | 210.1 |
|
Volumes(1) | (23.8 | ) | | (35.9 | ) | | (2.5 | ) | | (7.5 | ) |
Coal cost recovery and yields(2) | 118.8 |
| | (103.6 | ) | | 7.1 |
| | (8.8 | ) |
Operating and maintenance costs(3) | 1.0 |
| | 2.3 |
| | (15.6 | ) | | 14.0 |
|
Transportation costs shifted from Coal Mining segment(4) | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | (5.5 | ) |
Haverhill turbine failure(5) | 0.9 |
| | (0.9 | ) | | 3.5 |
| | (3.5 | ) |
Energy and other | 0.5 |
| | (8.4 | ) | | 2.5 |
| | (4.9 | ) |
Ending | $ | 1,195.0 |
| | $ | 1,097.6 |
| | $ | 188.9 |
| | $ | 193.9 |
|
| |
(1) | In both 2016 and 2017, volumes were negatively impacted by the ongoing oven rebuild initiative at Indiana Harbor as well as a decrease in volumes to AK Steel, for which AK Steel provided make whole payments. |
| |
(2) | Revenues and the impact of coal-to-coke yields on Adjusted EBITDA move directionally with changes in coal prices, which were increasing in 2017 and decreasing in 2016. Additionally, our oven rebuilds at Indiana Harbor, which began in late 2015, negatively impacted coal-to-coke yields in 2016 as compared to 2015. As the oven rebuilds have continued in 2017, the impact on coal-to-coke yield gains in 2017 was comparable to 2016. |
| |
(3) | Higher operating and maintenance costs in 2017 as compared to 2016 was driven by an increase in the number of oven rebuilds at Indiana Harbor. Operating and maintenance savings in 2016 as compared to 2015 was primarily a result of a cost rationalization initiative completed in 2016 at Indiana Harbor. |
| |
(4) | In 2016, the divestiture of the coal mining business and the transition to a 100 percent purchased third-party coal model resulted in a shift of coal transportation costs from our former Coal Mining segment to our Jewell cokemaking facility of approximately $5.5 million. This shift of costs had no impact on consolidated Adjusted EBITDA. |
| |
(5) | In October 2016, the Partnership sustained a turbine failure at its Haverhill II facility, the impact of which was partially mitigated by insurance recoveries. The Haverhill II turbine was fully restored in January 2017. |
Logistics
The following table explains year-over-year changes in our Logistics segment's sales and other operating revenues and Adjusted EBITDA results: |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Sales and other operating revenue, inclusive of intersegment sales | | Adjusted EBITDA |
| 2017 vs. 2016 | | 2016 vs. 2015 | | 2017 vs. 2016 | | 2016 vs. 2015 |
| (Dollars in millions) |
Beginning | $ | 107.9 |
| | $ | 81.2 |
| | $ | 63.9 |
| | $ | 38.0 |
|
Acquisition of CMT(1) | — |
| | 34.1 |
| | — |
| | 29.9 |
|
Creation of DRT(2) | — |
| | 3.9 |
| | — |
| | 0.7 |
|
Transloading volumes(3) | 3.1 |
| | (10.5 | ) | | 2.4 |
| | (5.6 | ) |
Price/margin impact of mix in transloading services(4) | 3.0 |
| | (1.4 | ) | | 3.0 |
| | — |
|
Operating and maintenance costs and other | 2.9 |
| | 0.6 |
| | 1.5 |
| | 0.9 |
|
Ending | $ | 116.9 |
| | $ | 107.9 |
| | $ | 70.8 |
| | $ | 63.9 |
|
| |
(1) | Comparability between 2016 and 2015 was impacted by the acquisition of CMT on August 12, 2015. Both 2016 and 2017 reflect a full year of CMT results. |
| |
(2) | Comparability between 2016 and 2015 was impacted by the formation of DRT in early 2016. Both 2016 and 2017 reflect a full year of DRT results. |
| |
(3) | CMT achieved record volumes in 2017, which included $1.0 million of new merchant business. Transloading volumes decreased at KRT and Lake Terminal in both 2016 and 2017, driven by challenging market conditions in both the thermal and metallurgical coal markets. |
| |
(4) | The contractual price escalation for transloading services provided to certain customers at CMT in 2017 primarily drove the increase in both revenue and Adjusted EBITDA in 2017 as compared to 2016. |
Brazil Coke
2017 compared to 2016
Sales and other operating revenue increased $3.9 million, or 9.9 percent, to $43.4 million in 2017 compared to $39.5 million in 2016. The increase in sales and other operating revenue was primarily due to $1.8 million of favorable translation adjustments as well as higher reimbursement of operating and maintenance costs of $1.1 million. The remaining increase of $1.0 million was primarily due to higher volumes, including higher production bonuses received from our customer in the current year for meeting certain volume targets beyond what was produced in the prior year.
Adjusted EBITDA increased $2.0 million, or 12.3 percent, to $18.2 million in 2017 compared to $16.2 million in 2016. The increase was primarily driven by higher volumes, including higher production bonuses as described above and favorable translation adjustments.
2016 compared to 2015
Sales and other operating revenue decreased $3.9 million, or 9.0 percent, to $39.5 million in 2016 compared to $43.4 million in 2015. The decrease in sales and other operating revenue was primarily driven by the absence of our $9.5 million preferred annual dividend, no longer received with the redemption of our Brazil Investment in 2016, net of the $5.1 million additional licensing fees. Higher reimbursement of operating and maintenance costs favorably impacted sales and other operating revenue $2.0 million compared to 2015. The remaining decrease was primarily related to unfavorable translation adjustments.
Adjusted EBITDA decreased $6.2 million, or 27.7 percent, to $16.2 million in 2016 compared to $22.4 million in 2015. The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA was primarily driven by the absence of our $9.5 million preferred annual dividend, as described above, net of the $5.1 million additional licensing fees. The remaining decrease was primarily related to unfavorable translation adjustments.
Corporate and Other
2017 compared to 2016
Corporate and Other Adjusted EBITDA results, which include costs related to our legacy coal mining business, improved $13.8 million, or 24.2 percent, to losses of $43.2 million in 2017 as compared to losses of $57.0 million in 2016. The improvement includes a $4.5 million period-over-period benefit associated with the absence of our legacy coal mining business, which was disposed of in April 2016. The current year period also benefited from $4.6 million of lower employee-related and other costs and the $2.2 million favorable impact of period-over-period, mark-to-market adjustments in deferred compensation driven by changes in the Company's share price and the Partnership's unit price. The remaining improvement was driven by lower costs incurred to resolve certain legal matters as compared to the prior year period.
2016 compared to 2015
Corporate and Other revenues, inclusive of intersegment sales, were $23.5 million and $115.4 million for 2016 and 2015, respectively, and represented revenues from our legacy coal mining business, which was disposed of in April 2016.
Corporate and Other Adjusted EBITDA results, which include activity from our legacy coal mining business, improved $28.1 million, or 33.0 percent, to losses of $57.0 million in 2016 as compared to losses of $85.1 million in 2015. The improvement includes a $25.9 million year-over-year benefit associated with the absence of our legacy coal mining business, which was disposed of in April 2016. The Company also incurred lower severance costs of $3.8 million in 2016 as well as additional employee-related savings of $1.3 million in 2016 compared to 2015. The absence of $2.6 million of transaction costs incurred in 2015 related to the acquisition of CMT and the Granite City dropdowns further improved results in 2016 as compared to the prior year period. These improvements were partially offset by increases in expenses of $5.5 million substantially driven by mark-to-market adjustments in deferred compensation caused by changes in certain performance metrics and changes in the Company's share price and the Partnership's unit price.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our primary liquidity needs are to finance the fund of working capital, fund investments, service our debt, maintain cash reserves and replacement of partially or fully depreciated assets and other capital expenditures. Our sources of liquidity include cash generated from operations, borrowings under our revolving credit facility and, from time to time, debt and equity offerings. We believe our current resources are sufficient to meet our working capital requirements for our current business for the foreseeable future. We may be required to access the capital markets for funding related to the maturities of our long-term borrowings beginning in 2022. As of December 31, 2017, together with the Partnership, we had $120.2 million of cash and cash equivalents and $226.6 million of borrowing availability under our credit facilities.
Debt Refinancing
During 2017, the Partnership refinanced its debt obligations and received $693.7 million of proceeds, net of a net discount of $6.3 million, from the issuance of $700.0 million of 7.5 percent 2025 Partnership Notes. The Partnership also increased the Partnership Revolver's capacity to $285.0 million and extended its maturity date to May 2022. Additionally, the Company extended the Revolving Facility's maturity date to May 2022 and reduced its capacity to $100.0 million. In connection with the refinancing and revolver amendments, the Company and the Partnership incurred debt issuance costs of $17.6 million.
The Partnership used the proceeds described above to purchase and redeem all of its 2020 Partnership Notes, including principal of $463.0 million and a premium of $18.7 million, repay the $50.0 million outstanding on the Partnership Term Loan, repay the $112.6 million outstanding on the Partnership's Promissory Note and reduce the Partnership Revolver outstanding balance by $42.0 million.
On January 11, 2018, the Company redeemed all of its outstanding 2019 Notes for $46.1 million, which included accrued and unpaid interest of $1.5 million. The Company funded the redemption with a term loan in the aggregate principal amount of $45.0 million maturing on May 24, 2022 under the Company’s existing Amended and Restated Credit Agreement.
As a result of the debt refinancing activities and the timing of these activities, consolidated interest expense, net is expected to increase by approximately $3 million in 2018 compared to 2017.
See further discussion of these debt activities in Note 12 to our consolidated financial statements.
Covenants
As of December 31, 2017, the Company and the Partnership were in compliance with all debt covenants. We do not anticipate violation of these covenants nor do we anticipate that any of these covenants will restrict our operations or our ability to obtain additional financing. See Note 12 to the consolidated financial statements for details on debt covenants.
Credit Rating
In May 2017, Moody's Investor Services ("Moody's") upgraded the Company's corporate family rating to B1 from B2, in connection with the refinancing of the Partnership's capital structure. The rating upgrade reflects the improved steel market fundamentals and the strengthened financial position of our customers as well as de-leveraging undertaken by the Company and Partnership in the past 24 months.
Distributions
On January 22, 2018, the Partnership's Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash distribution of $0.5940 per unit. This distribution will be paid on March 1, 2018 to unitholders of record on February 15, 2018.
Partnership Common Unit Purchase Program
In April 2017, the Company's Board of Directors authorized a program for the Company to purchase outstanding Partnership common units at any time and from time to time in the open market, through privately negotiated transactions, block transactions, or otherwise for a total aggregate cost to the Company not to exceed $50.0 million. In July 2017, the Company's Board of Directors authorized the Company to purchase an incremental $50.0 million of Partnership common units in the open market. During 2017, the Company purchased 2,853,032 of outstanding Partnership common units in the open market for total cash payments of $48.7 million, which increased our limited partner interest in the Partnership from 53.9 percent to 59.9 percent at December 31, 2017.
Subsequent to December 31, 2017, the Company purchased an additional 132,188 of outstanding Partnership common units in the open market for total cash payments of $2.3 million, leaving a remaining common unit purchase program balance of $49.0 million as of February 15, 2018.
Cash Flow Summary
The following table sets forth a summary of the net cash provided by (used in) operating, investing and financing activities for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Years Ended December 31, |
| 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 |
| (Dollars in millions) |
Net cash provided by operating activities | $ | 148.5 |
| | $ | 219.1 |
| | $ | 141.1 |
|
Net cash used in investing activities | (54.6 | ) | | (36.2 | ) | | (285.2 | ) |
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities | (107.7 | ) | | (172.3 | ) | | 128.5 |
|
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents | $ | (13.8 | ) | | $ | 10.6 |
| | $ | (15.6 | ) |
Cash Provided by Operating Activities
Net cash provided by operating activities decreased by $70.6 million in 2017 as compared to 2016. The decrease was primarily driven by the unfavorable year-over-year change in primary working capital, which is comprised of accounts receivable, inventories and accounts payable, of which approximately $47 million was due to fluctuating coal prices and inventory levels. Further contributing to the decrease in operating cash flows were higher cash interest payments of $10.6 million during 2017 as compared to 2016 due primarily to changes in the timing of interest payments as a result of the Partnership refinancing its debt obligations. Additionally, income tax payments, net were $5.8 million in the current period as compared to income tax refunds, net of $2.3 million in 2016 and compensation-related benefit payments were higher in 2017 as compared to 2016.
Net cash provided by operating activities increased by $78.0 million in 2016 as compared to 2015 partially due to the full year benefit of CMT's cash provided by operating activities, a net increase of $35.0 million. Larger decreases to coal inventory levels and coal prices in 2016 as compared to 2015 as well as timing of payments for coal purchases in 2015 provided additional operating cash flow of approximately $23 million in 2016. Lower operating costs due to the divestiture of
the coal mining business during 2016 also contributed to the increase in operating cash flow as compared to 2015. Additionally, 2015 was adversely impacted by coal severance payments of $11.5 million.
Cash Used in Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities increased $18.4 million to $54.6 million in 2017 as compared to 2016. The increase is primarily due to higher capital spending on the Indiana Harbor oven rebuild initiative and the environmental remediation project at Granite City during 2017 as compared to 2016. This increase was partially offset by the $12.8 million payment related to the divestiture of the coal mining business in 2016.
Net cash used in investing activities decreased $249.0 million to $36.2 million in 2016 as compared to 2015. The decrease is primarily due to the absence of the investing cash outflow of $191.7 million from the acquisition of CMT in 2015. In 2016, the Partnership amended an agreement with The Cline Group, which unrestricted $6.0 million of previously restricted cash and relieved the Partnership of any obligation to repay these amounts to The Cline Group. The Company also received $20.5 million in cash at the closing of the redemption of its Brazil Investment during 2016. These cash inflows were more than offset by the divestiture of the coal mining business in 2016, where the Company paid $12.8 million to Revelation, as well as capital expenditures, excluding the CMT capital expansion costs, which was funded from restricted cash. The decrease in capital expenditures in 2016 compared to 2015 related to lower spending on the environmental remediation project at Haverhill during 2016.
Cash (Used in) Provided by Financing Activities
Net cash used in financing activities was $107.7 million in 2017, and was primarily related to the Company's acquisition of outstanding Partnership common units for a total payment of $48.7 million and the Partnership's distribution payment to public unitholders of $47.0 million. Additionally, during 2017, the Partnership refinanced its debt obligations, for which the Partnership made repayments of debt, net of proceeds, of $13.1 million. See Note 12 to our consolidated financial statements for further discussion of debt activities.
Net cash used in financing activities was $172.3 million in 2016, and was primarily in connection with the Partnership's de-levering activities, for which the Partnership and the Company made repayments of debt, net of proceeds from the sale-leaseback arrangement, of $121.5 million. Additionally, during 2016, the Partnership paid distributions to public unitholders of $49.4 million.
Net cash provided by financing activities was $128.5 million in 2015, and was primarily in connection with the Granite City Dropdown and the acquisition of CMT. The proceeds from the issuance of the related debt, net of repayments were $249.4 million. These net cash inflows were partially offset by return of investments to shareholders and unitholders, including dividends and distributions of $71.3 million and equity repurchases of $48.5 million.
Capital Requirements and Expenditures
Our operations are capital intensive, requiring significant investment to upgrade or enhance existing operations and to meet environmental and operational regulations. The level of future capital expenditures will depend on various factors, including market conditions and customer requirements, and may differ from current or anticipated levels. Material changes in capital expenditure levels may impact financial results, including but not limited to the amount of depreciation, interest expense and repair and maintenance expense.
Our capital requirements have consisted, and are expected to consist, primarily of:
| |
• | Ongoing capital expenditures required to maintain equipment reliability, the integrity and safety of our coke ovens and steam generators and to comply with environmental regulations. Ongoing capital expenditures are made to replace partially or fully depreciated assets in order to maintain the existing operating capacity of the assets and/or to extend their useful lives and also include new equipment that improves the efficiency, reliability or effectiveness of existing assets. Ongoing capital expenditures do not include normal repairs and maintenance expenses, which are expensed as incurred; |
| |
• | Environmental remediation project expenditures required to implement design changes to ensure that our existing facilities operate in accordance with existing environmental permits; and |
| |
• | Expansion capital expenditures to acquire and/or construct complementary assets to grow our business and to expand existing facilities as well as capital expenditures made to enable the renewal of a coke sales agreement and/or logistics service agreement and on which we expect to earn a reasonable return. |
The following table summarizes ongoing, environmental remediation project and expansion capital expenditures: |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Years Ended December 31, |
| 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 |
| (Dollars in millions) |
Ongoing capital(1) | $ | 54.7 |
| | $ | 39.8 |
| | $ | 45.9 |
|
Environmental remediation project(2) | 19.4 |
| | 7.8 |
| | 20.9 |
|
Expansion capital:(3) | | | | | |
CMT ship loader(4) | 1.1 |
| | 13.5 |
| | 4.6 |
|
Other capital expansion | 0.4 |
| | 2.6 |
| | 4.4 |
|
Total expansion capital | 1.5 |
| | 16.1 |
| | 9.0 |
|
Total capital expenditures | $ | 75.6 |
| | $ | 63.7 |
| | $ | 75.8 |
|
| |
(1) | Includes $29.7 million, $14.0 million and $12.1 million of capital expenditures in connection with our current oven rebuild initiative at our Indiana Harbor facility, which began in 2015, for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. |
| |
(2) | Includes $1.1 million, $2.7 million and $2.9 million of interest capitalized in connection with the environmental gas sharing projects for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. |
| |
(3) | Excludes the acquisition of CMT. |
| |
(4) | Represents capital expenditures for the ship loader expansion project funded with cash withheld in conjunction with the acquisition of CMT. Additionally, this includes capitalized interest of $2.3 million and $0.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. |
In 2018, we expect our capital expenditures to be approximately $95 million, which is comprised of the following:
| |
• | Total ongoing capital expenditures of approximately $59 million, of which approximately $25 million will be spent at the Partnership and approximately $25 million to $30 million will be spent on the Indiana Harbor oven rebuild project. |
| |
• | Total capital expenditures on environmental remediation projects of approximately $35 million, all of which will be spent at the Partnership, including the cash payments for certain work performed in 2017; and |
| |
• | Total expansion capital of approximately $1 million in our Logistics segment. |
We anticipate spending approximately $145 million on our environmental remediation projects to comply with the expected terms of the consent decree at our Haverhill and Granite City cokemaking operations. We have spent approximately $111 million, including $7 million spent by the Company prior to the formation of the Partnership, related to these projects since 2012. The remaining capital is expected to be spent through the first quarter of 2019. A portion of the proceeds from the Partnership's initial public offering and the dropdowns of ownership interest in Haverhill, Middletown and Granite City are to be used to fund $119 million of these environmental remediation projects. Pursuant to the omnibus agreement, the Company will reimburse the Partnership approximately $20 million for the estimated additional spending beyond what has previously been funded.
Contractual Obligations
The following table summarizes our significant contractual obligations as of December 31, 2017: |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | Payment Due Dates |
| Total | | 2018 | | 2019-2020 | | 2021-2022 | | Thereafter |
| (Dollars in millions) |
Total borrowings:(1) | | | | | | | | | |
Principal | $ | 887.3 |
| | $ | 2.6 |
| | $ | 54.7 |
| | $ | 130.0 |
| | $ | 700.0 |
|
Interest | 422.2 |
| | 61.9 |
| | 118.7 |
| | 112.5 |
| | 129.1 |
|
Operating leases(2) | 9.3 |
| | 3.1 |
| | 3.8 |
| | 1.3 |
| | 1.1 |
|
Purchase obligations: |
|
| | | | | | | | |
Coal(3)(4) | 584.4 |
| | 527.6 |
| | 56.8 |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Transportation and coal handling(5) | 216.8 |
| | 38.6 |
| | 61.9 |
| | 49.2 |
| | 67.1 |
|
Other(6) | 11.1 |
| | 2.5 |
| | 3.8 |
| | 3.0 |
| | 1.8 |
|
Total | $ | 2,131.1 |
|
| $ | 636.3 |
|
| $ | 299.7 |
|
| $ | 296.0 |
|
| $ | 899.1 |
|
| |
(1) | At December 31, 2017, debt consists of $700.0 million of 2025 Partnership Notes, $44.6 million of 2019 Company Notes, $12.7 million of Partnership Financing Obligation and $130.0 million of Partnership Revolver. Projected interest costs on variable rate instruments were calculated using market rates at December 31, 2017. |
| |
(2) | Our operating leases include leases for land, locomotives, office equipment and other property and equipment. Operating leases include all operating leases that have initial noncancelable terms in excess of one year. |
| |
(3) | Certain coal procurement contracts were not executed at December 31, 2017. We estimate these contracts to be approximately $94 million of additional purchase obligations in 2018 and expect these to be finalized in the first quarter of 2018. |
| |
(4) | Our Jewell cokemaking facility has a five-year coal procurement contract with minimum volume requirements that set pricing annually. Projected purchase obligations were calculated using 2018 pricing. |
| |
(5) | Transportation and coal handling services consist primarily of railroad and terminal services attributable to delivery and handling of coal purchases and coke sales. Long-term commitments generally relate to locations for which limited transportation options exist and match the length of the related coke sales agreement. |
| |
(6) | Primarily represents open purchase orders for materials, supplies and services. |
A purchase obligation is an enforceable and legally binding agreement to purchase goods or services that specifies significant terms, including: fixed or minimum quantities to be purchased; fixed, minimum or variable price provisions; and the approximate timing of the transaction. Our principal purchase obligations in the ordinary course of business consist of coal and transportation and distribution services, including railroad services. We also have contractual obligations supporting financing arrangements of third-parties, contracts to acquire or construct properties, plants and equipment, and other contractual obligations, primarily related to services and materials. Most of our coal purchase obligations are based on fixed prices. These purchase obligations generally include fixed or minimum volume requirements. Transportation and distribution obligations also typically include required minimum volume commitments. The purchase obligation amounts in the table above are based on the minimum quantities or services to be purchased at estimated prices to be paid based on current market conditions. Accordingly, the actual amounts may vary significantly from the estimates included in the table.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We have letters of credit disclosed in Note 12 to the consolidated financial statements as well as operating leases disclosed in Note 13 to the consolidated financial statements. We had outstanding surety bonds with third parties of approximately $24 million as of December 31, 2017 to secure reclamation and other performance commitments. Other than these arrangements, the Company has not entered into any transactions, agreements or other contractual arrangements that would result in material off-balance sheet liabilities.
Impact of Inflation
Although the impact of inflation has been relatively low in recent years, it is still a factor in the U.S. economy and may increase the cost to acquire or replace properties, plants, and equipment and may increase the costs of labor and supplies. To the extent permitted by competition, regulation and existing agreements, we have generally passed along increased costs to our customers in the form of higher fees and we expect to continue this practice.
Critical Accounting Policies
A summary of our significant accounting policies is included in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements. Our management believes that the application of these policies on a consistent basis enables us to provide the users of the financial statements with useful and reliable information about our operating results and financial condition. The preparation of our consolidated financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and the disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities. Significant items that are subject to such estimates and assumptions consist of: (1) accounting for impairments and (2) black lung benefit obligations. Although our management bases its estimates on historical experience and various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, actual results may differ to some extent from the estimates on which our consolidated financial statements have been prepared at any point in time. Despite these inherent limitations, our management believes the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and consolidated financial statements and footnotes provide a meaningful and fair perspective of our financial condition.
Accounting for Impairments
Goodwill
Goodwill, which represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of the net assets acquired, is tested for impairment as of October 1 of each year, or when events occur or circumstances change that would, more likely than not, reduce the fair value of the reporting unit to below its carrying value. We perform our annual goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of the reporting unit with its carrying amount. We would recognize an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value.
The Logistics reporting unit had a goodwill carrying value of $73.5 million as of December 31, 2017. The goodwill analysis as of October 1st resulted in the fair value of the Logistics reporting unit, which was determined based on a discounted cash flow analysis, exceeding its carrying value by approximately 25 percent. A significant portion of our logistics business holds long-term, take-or-pay contracts with Murray American Coal Inc. ("Murray") and Foresight Energy LLC ("Foresight"). Key assumptions in our goodwill impairment test include continued customer performance against long-term, take-or-pay contracts, renewal of future long-term, take-or-pay contracts, incremental merchant business and a 14 percent discount rate representing the estimated weighted average cost of capital for this business line. The use of different assumptions, estimates or judgments, such as the estimated future cash flows of Logistics and the discount rate used to discount such cash flows, could significantly impact the estimated fair value of a reporting unit, and therefore, impact the excess fair value above carrying value of the reporting unit. A 100 basis point change in the discount rate would not have reduced the fair value of the reporting unit below its carrying value.
To the extent changes in factors or circumstances occur that impact our future cash flow projections, such as a loss of either Murray or Foresight as customers, significant reductions in volume or pricing beyond our existing contract term or lower incremental merchant business, future assessments of goodwill and intangible assets may result in material impairment charges.
Finite-Lived Intangible and Long-Lived Assets
Intangible assets are primarily comprised of customer contracts, customer relationships, and permits. Intangible assets are amortized over their useful lives in a manner that reflects the pattern in which the economic benefit of the asset is consumed.
Finite-lived intangible and long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the assets may not be recoverable. A finite-lived intangible and long-lived asset, or group of assets, is considered to be impaired when the undiscounted net cash flows expected to be generated by the asset are less than its carrying amount. Such estimated future cash flows are highly subjective and are based on numerous assumptions about future operations and market conditions. The impairment recognized is the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the fair market value of the impaired asset, or group of assets. It is also difficult to precisely estimate fair market value because quoted market prices for our finite-lived and long-lived assets may not be readily
available. Therefore, fair market value is generally based on the present values of estimated future cash flows using discount rates commensurate with the risks associated with the assets being reviewed for impairment.
Cash flows at our Indiana Harbor facility were negative during 2017, driven by the oven rebuild project implemented to address coke oven degradation. Based on these results, we performed an impairment test in 2017 and concluded that our projected undiscounted cash flows associated with the facility were approximately 45 percent, or substantially in excess, of the carrying value of our long-lived assets at Indiana Harbor. However, we continue to closely monitor our performance at Indiana Harbor, and if our coke oven rebuild project does not stabilize production or if the project costs are significantly higher than expected, our current conclusion as to recoverability of assets at that location could change.
Black Lung Benefit Liabilities
The Company has obligations related to coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, or black lung, benefits to certain of our former coal miners and their dependents. Such benefits are provided for under Title IV of the Federal Coal Mine and Safety Act of 1969 and subsequent amendments, as well as for black lung benefits provided in the states of Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia pursuant to workers’ compensation legislation. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”), which was implemented in 2010, amended previous legislation related to coal workers’ black lung obligations. PPACA provides for the automatic extension of awarded lifetime benefits to surviving spouses and changes the legal criteria used to assess and award claims. We act as a self-insurer for both state and federal black lung benefits and adjust our liability each year based upon actuarial calculations of our expected future payments for these benefits.
Our independent actuarial consultants calculate the present value of the estimated black lung liability annually based on actuarial models utilizing our population of former coal miners, historical payout patterns of both the Company and the industry, actuarial mortality rates, disability incidence, medical costs, death benefits, dependents, discount rates and the current federally mandated payout rates. The estimated liability may be impacted by future changes in the statutory mechanisms, modifications by court decisions and changes in filing patterns driven by perceptions of success by claimants and their advisors, the impact of which cannot be estimated.
The following table summarizes discount rates utilized, active claims, and the total estimated black lung liabilities: |
| | | | | | | |
| December 31, |
| 2017 | | 2016 |
Discount rate (percent)(1) | 3.3 | % | | 3.7 | % |
Active claims | 351 |
| | 349 |
|
Estimated black lung liability (dollars in millions)(2) | $ | 50.3 |
| | $ | 50.2 |
|
(1) The discount rate is determined based on a portfolio of high-quality corporate bonds with maturities that are consistent with the estimated duration of our black lung obligations. A 0.25 percent decrease in the discount rate would have increased coal workers' black lung expense by $1.2 million in 2017.
(2) The current portion of the black lung liability was $5.4 million and $4.8 million at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, and was included in accrued liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.
The following table summarizes annual black lung payments and expense:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Years Ended December 31, |
| 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 |
| (dollars in millions) |
Payments | $ | 7.4 |
| | $ | 7.8 |
| | $ | 3.8 |
|
Expense | $ | 7.5 |
| | $ | 8.1 |
| | $ | 9.8 |
|
Recent Accounting Standards
See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In addition to the GAAP results provided in the Annual Report on Form 10-K, we have provided a non-GAAP financial measure, Adjusted EBITDA. Our management, as well as certain investors, uses this non-GAAP measure to analyze our current and expected future financial performance and liquidity. This measure is not in accordance with, or a substitute for, GAAP and may be different from, or inconsistent with, non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. See Note 18 in our consolidated financial statements for both the definition of Adjusted EBITDA and reconciliations from GAAP to the non-GAAP measurement for 2017, 2016 and 2015.
Below is a reconciliation of 2018 Adjusted EBITDA guidance from its closest GAAP measures: |
| | | | | | | | |
| | 2018 |
| | Low | | High |
Net Cash Provided by Operating activities | | $ | 150 |
| | $ | 165 |
|
Subtract: | | | | |
Depreciation and amortization expense | | 137 |
| | 129 |
|
Changes in working capital and other | | (22 | ) | | (14 | ) |
Net Income | | $ | 35 |
| | $ | 50 |
|
Add: | | | | |
Depreciation and amortization expense | | 137 |
| | 129 |
|
Interest expense, net | | 63 |
| | 63 |
|
Income tax expense | | 5 |
| | 13 |
|
Adjusted EBITDA | | $ | 240 |
| | $ | 255 |
|
Subtract: Adjusted EBITDA attributable to noncontrolling interest(1) | | 80 |
| | 84 |
|
Adjusted EBITDA attributable to SXC | | $ | 160 |
| | $ | 171 |
|
| |
(1) | Reflects non-controlling interest in Indiana Harbor and the portion of the Partnership owned by public unitholders. |
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
We have made forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including, among others, in the sections entitled “Business,” “Risk Factors,” "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk" and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Such forward-looking statements are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available. Forward-looking statements include the information concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations, business strategies, financing plans, competitive position, potential growth opportunities, potential operating performance, the effects of competition and the effects of future legislation or regulations. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts and may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as the words “believe,” “expect,” “plan,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “may,” “will,” “should” or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. In particular, statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K concerning future dividend declarations are subject to approval by our Board of Directors and will be based upon circumstances then existing.
Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. We do not have any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statement (or its associated cautionary language), whether as a result of new information or future events, after the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, except as required by applicable law.
The risk factors discussed in “Risk Factors” could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. There also may be other risks that we are unable to predict at this time. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation:
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• | changes in levels of production, production capacity, pricing and/or margins for coal and coke; |
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• | variation in availability, quality and supply of metallurgical coal used in the cokemaking process, including as a result of non-performance by our suppliers; |
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• | changes in the marketplace that may affect our logistics business, including the supply and demand for thermal and metallurgical coal; |
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• | changes in the marketplace that may affect our cokemaking business, including the supply and demand for our coke products, as well as increased imports of coke from foreign producers; |
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• | competition from alternative steelmaking and other technologies that have the potential to reduce or eliminate the use of coke; |
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• | our dependence on, relationships with, and other conditions affecting our customers; |
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• | our dependence on, relationships with, and other conditions affecting our suppliers; |
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• | severe financial hardship or bankruptcy of one or more of our major customers, or the occurrence of a customer default or other event affecting our ability to collect payments from our customers; |
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• | volatility and cyclical downturns in the steel industry and in other industries in which our customers and/or suppliers operate; |
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• | volatility, cyclical downturns and other change in the business climate and market for coal, affecting customers or potential customers for the Partnership's logistics business; |
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• | our significant equity interest in the Partnership; |
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• | our ability to repair aging coke ovens to maintain operational performance; |
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• | our ability to enter into new, or renew existing, long-term agreements upon favorable terms for the sale of coke, steam, or electric power, or for handling services of coal and other aggregates (including transportation, storage and mixing); |
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• | the Partnership's ability to enter into new, or renew existing, agreements upon favorable terms for logistics services; |
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• | our ability to identify acquisitions, execute them under favorable terms, and integrate them into our existing business operations; |
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• | our ability to consummate investments under favorable terms, including with respect to existing cokemaking facilities, which may utilize by-product technology, and integrate them into our existing businesses and have them perform at anticipated levels; |
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• | our ability to develop, design, permit, construct, start up, or operate new cokemaking facilities in the U.S. or in foreign countries; |
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• | our ability to successfully implement domestic and/or our international growth strategies; |
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• | our ability to realize expected benefits from investments and acquisitions; |
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• | age of, and changes in the reliability, efficiency and capacity of the various equipment and operating facilities used in our cokemaking operations, and in the operations of our subsidiaries major customers, business partners and/or suppliers; |
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• | changes in the expected operating levels of our assets; |
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• | our ability to meet minimum volume requirements, coal-to-coke yield standards and coke quality standards in our coke sales agreements; |
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• | changes in the level of capital expenditures or operating expenses, including any changes in the level of environmental capital, operating or remediation expenditures; |
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• | our ability to service our outstanding indebtedness; |
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• | our ability to comply with the restrictions imposed by our financing arrangements; |
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• | our ability to comply with applicable federal, state or local laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, those relating to environmental matters; |
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• | nonperformance or force majeure by, or disputes with, or changes in contract terms with, major customers, suppliers, dealers, distributors or other business partners; |
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• | availability of skilled employees for our cokemaking, and/or logistics operations, and other workplace factors; |
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• | effects of railroad, barge, truck and other transportation performance and costs, including any transportation disruptions; |
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• | effects of adverse events relating to the operation of our facilities and to the transportation and storage of hazardous materials or regulated media (including equipment malfunction, explosions, fires, spills, impoundment failure and the effects of severe weather conditions); |
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• | effects of adverse events relating to the business or commercial operations of our customers and/or suppliers; |
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• | disruption in our information technology infrastructure and/or loss of our ability to securely store, maintain, or transmit data due to security breach by hackers, employee error or malfeasance, terrorist attack, power loss, telecommunications failure or other events; |
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• | our ability to enter into joint ventures and other similar arrangements under favorable terms; |
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• | our ability to consummate assets sales, other divestitures and strategic restructuring in a timely manner upon favorable terms, and/or realize the anticipated benefits from such actions; |
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• | changes in the availability and cost of equity and debt financing; |
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• | impacts on our liquidity and ability to raise capital as a result of changes in the credit ratings assigned to our indebtedness; |
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• | changes in credit terms required by our suppliers; |
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• | risks related to labor relations and workplace safety; |
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• | proposed or final changes in existing, or new, statutes, regulations, rules, governmental policies and taxes, or their interpretations, including those relating to environmental matters and taxes; |
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• | the existence of hazardous substances or other environmental contamination on property owned or used by us; |
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• | the availability of future permits authorizing the disposition of certain mining waste and the management of reclamation areas; |
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• | risks related to obligations under mineral leases retained by us in connection with the divestment of our legacy coal mining business; |
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• | risks related to environmental compliance; |
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• | risks related to the ability of the assignee(s) to perform in compliance with applicable requirements under mineral leases assigned in connection with the divestment of our legacy coal mining business; |
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• | claims of noncompliance with any statutory or regulatory requirements; |
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• | proposed or final changes in accounting and/or tax methodologies, laws, regulations, rules, or policies, or their interpretations, including those affecting inventories, leases, post-employment benefits, income, or other matters; |
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• | historical consolidated financial data may not be reliable indicator of future results; |
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• | our indebtedness and certain covenants in our debt documents; |
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• | our ability to secure new coal supply agreements or to renew existing coal supply agreements; |
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• | required permits and other regulatory approvals and compliance with contractual obligations and/or bonding requirements in connection with our cokemaking, logistics operations, and/or former coal mining activities; |
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• | changes in product specifications for the coke that we produce or the coals we mix, store and transport; |
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• | changes in insurance markets impacting cost, level and/or types of coverage available, and the financial ability of our insurers to meet their obligations; |
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• | changes in tax laws or their interpretations, including regulations governing the federal income tax treatment of the Partnership; |
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• | volatility in foreign currency exchange rates affecting the markets and geographic regions in which we conduct business; |
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• | the accuracy of our estimates of reclamation and other mine closure obligations; |
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• | inadequate protection of our intellectual property rights; and |
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• | effects of geologic conditions, weather, natural disasters and other inherent risks beyond our control. |
The factors identified above are believed to be important factors, but not necessarily all of the important factors, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement made by us. Other factors not discussed herein also could have material adverse effects on us. All forward-looking statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements.
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Item 7A. | Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk |
Our primary areas of market risk include changes in: (1) the price of coal, which is the key raw material for our cokemaking business; (2) interest rates; and (3) foreign currency exchange rates. We do not enter into any market risk sensitive instruments for trading purposes.
Price of coal
We do not use derivatives to hedge any of our coal purchases or sales. Although we have not previously done so, we may enter into derivative financial instruments from time to time in the future to economically manage our exposure related to these market risks.
For our Domestic Coke segment, the largest component of the price of our coke is coal cost. However, under the coke sales agreements at all of our Domestic Coke cokemaking facilities, coal costs are a pass-through component of the coke price, provided that we are able to realize certain targeted coal-to-coke yields. As such, when targeted coal-to-coke yields are achieved, the price of coal is not a significant determining factor in the profitability of these facilities. The coal component of the Jewell coke price is fixed annually for each calendar year based on the weighted-average contract price of third-party coal purchases at our Haverhill facility applicable to AM USA coke sales.
The provisions of our coke sales agreements require us to meet minimum production levels and generally require us to secure replacement coke supplies at the prevailing market price if we do not meet contractual minimum volumes. Because market prices for coke are generally highly correlated to market prices for metallurgical coal, to the extent any of our facilities are unable to produce their contractual minimum volumes, we are subject to market risk related to the procurement of replacement supplies.
Interest rates
We are exposed to changes in interest rates as a result of borrowing activities with variable interest rates and interest earned on our cash balances. During the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, the daily average outstanding balance on borrowings with variable interest rates was $184.3 million and $262.1 million, respectively. Assuming a 50 basis point change in LIBOR, interest expense would have been impacted by $0.9 million and $1.2 million in 2017 and 2016, respectively. At December 31, 2017, we had outstanding borrowings with variable interest rates of $130.0 million under the Partnership Revolver.
At December 31, 2017 and 2016, we had cash and cash equivalents of $120.2 million and $134.0 million, respectively, which accrues interest at various rates. Assuming a 50 basis point change in the rate of interest associated with our cash and cash equivalents, interest income would have been impacted by $0.6 million for both the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016.
Foreign currency
Because we operate outside the U.S., we are subject to risk resulting from changes in the Brazil Real currency exchange rates. The currency exchange rates are influenced by a variety of economic factors including local inflation, growth, interest rates and governmental actions, as well as other factors. Revenues and expenses of our foreign operations are translated at average exchange rates during the period and balance sheet accounts are translated at period-end exchange rates. Balance sheet translation adjustments are excluded from the results of operations and are recorded in equity as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss. If the currency exchange rates had changed by 10 percent, we estimate the impact to our net income in 2017 and 2016 would have been approximately $0.5 million.
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Item 8. | Financial Statements and Supplementary Data |
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS