Companies separated by bankruptcy to reunite

摘要

Two coal companies will rejoin later this year to compete in an Industry that has shifted significantly since the pair split during bankruptcy two years ago.rnContura Energy Inc. and the company It was spun off from, Alpha Natural Resources, yesterday announced plans to merge by the end of September, creating the nation's top producer of steelmaking metallurgical coal.rnIn July 2016, Contura was created to take over what were then described as Alpha's "crown jewels," Including major coal mines producing thermal coal used at power plants and some metallurgical mine complexes. Alpha was left mostly with metallurgical production in Appalachia.rnBut since the split, while coal-fired power plant retirements have continued nationwide, metallurgical prices have spiked, driving up U.S. exports by 61 percent in 2017.rnIn December, Contura sold its two largest thermal coal operations - the Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr mines in Wyoming - to focus on "a resurgent metallurgical coal market," CEO Kevin Crutchfield said (Greenwire. Dec. 11,2017).