Murray Energy – partnered with West Cumbria Mining change their name following bankruptcy

Last year, October 14th it was announced that West Cumbria Mining had entered into “an exclusive marketing and offtake agreement”  with Javelin Global Commodities ., The major stakeholder of Javelin is Murray Energy  

On October 29th the New York Times reported that Murray Energy had filed for bankruptcy.  

In July of this year it was revealed that Murray Energy had agreed to a new $45 million term loan facility from Silver Point Finance LLC. This allowed the company to exit bankruptcy with enough liquidity to consummate a restructuring plan. The company also disclosed a $15.7 million settlement with founder Robert Murray, his family and affiliated trusts, who were facing various allegations from creditors that they treated Murray Energy as their own “piggy bank” ahead of the bankruptcy.

FIRE FIGHT

Yesterday it was reported in the US press that Murray Energy have in a stroke of evil genius changed their name (rather like Windscale changing its name to Sellafield following the fire)

The Seattle Times reports : “The new company plans to produce about 35 million tons of bituminous coal annually. In 2018, Murray Energy produced 46.4 million tons and was the country’s fourth largest coal producer, accounting for 6% of total production, according to the Energy Information Administration. 

“The restructuring eliminated more than $8 billion of Murray’s debt and legacy liabilities, and it allowed the new company to access new financing, providing ACNR with enhanced financial flexibility, the company statement said.”

West Cumbria Mining are aligned with a corporation happy to use unethical bankruptcy rules leaving a massive trail of financial and environmental destruction.

At the same time as destroying businesses and lives the coal giant formerly known as Murray Energy has tried to quash any dissenting voices by taking out lawsuits including against the comedian John Oliver.

“Obviously, the lawsuit was a bullshit attempt to silence us,” Oliver said “perhaps best exemplified by a motion that Murray filed to try to get a gag order to prevent us from rebroadcasting the story or even having it up online.” (The piece is still online, “big time”, at www.stillontheinternetbigtime.com.)

The lawsuit was, unsurprisingly, dismissed by a West Virginia court last February, but Murray appealed the case to the West Virginia supreme court. The case languished there for over a year before Murray dropped it.

 Javelin was founded as a joint venture between Murray Energy Corporation and Uniper. (Uniper has interests in nuclear decommissioning and waste.)

Your Local Coal Mine

West Cumbria Mining and “Localism”

Much has been made of West Cumbria Mining providing ‘local jobs for local people’.   

 “we prioritise working with local suppliers” they say.  

According to WCM their preferred suppliers come from County Durham, Sunderland, Derbyshire, Scotland, UK-wide, London and Teeside.  Hardly “local” to Cumbria – but wait, it gets worse.

The only genuinely “local” company is Parnaby Cyclones who provide machinery for coal washing and processing worldwide and are based in County Durham.  Other companies on the list of preferred suppliers could be described as global conglomerates with complicated histories of merger and acquisition including many nuclear interests.

One is a strange “supplier” – the commodity trader and venture capitalist – Javelin Global Commodities.  Strange because JGC is the company in partnership with WCM.  Founded in 2015 it has a complex control and accounting structure but it is essentially a couple of city blokes backed by a German finance company and a US coal company.  Murray Energy, the coal company, are the main backers of Javelin and they have just last month relied on clever bankruptcy tactics in order to line their own pockets and leave a trail of destruction  “Murray Energy and its stalking horse bidder agreed to a new $45 million term loan facility from Silver Point Finance LLC that would allow the company to exit bankruptcy with enough liquidity to consummate a restructuring plan, Murray Energy said in a July 24 filing. The company also disclosed a $15.7 million settlement with founder Robert Murray, his family and affiliated trusts, who were facing various allegations from creditors that they treated the private coal miner as their own “piggy bank” ahead of the bankruptcy.”  .

Another supplier is the German company,  Herrenknecht. They have offices worldwide including in Tehran   (Reuters, “German Exporters Eye Lucrative Deals in Post-Sanctions Iran,” 7/5/15).  

HS2’s two Tunnel Boring Machines named Florence and Cecilia have been made by Herrenknecht in Germany ready to be shipped to the UK.

  According to details on the supplier list WCM plan at least three giant Tunnel Boring Machines including one from Herrenknecht.  Another two tunnel boring machines would be provided, say WCM, by Sandvik – a Swedish company with big nuclear interests.  As well as providing tunnel boring machines, Sandvik provide the acres of steel piping and thick protective sheeting so necessary to the nuclear industry.  Steel for the nuclear industry has to be  high yield and non corrosive.  All high yield steel is quality recycled steel made with electric arc furnace, not coking coal.  This is true for all high quality steel requiring high tensile strength and non corrosion.

A ‘conspiracy minded’ person could say that this suppliers list with the exception of Parnaby Cyclones reads like the supplier list for the government’s longed for  Geological Disposal Facility.  A conspiracy minded person would be nuts to say that – apart from the fact that the CEO of West Cumbria Mining has been appointed to the Government Committee tasked with delivery of a GDF.   Cumbria is once again in the frame with the most pronuclear borough council in the UK, Copeland agreeing to listen once again to the industry/govnt’s smooth persuasion that burying nuclear waste under ground (or sea) would be ‘a good thing’. The appointment of WCM’s CEO to facilitate geological disposal has not been flagged up in the press at all, apart from letters to the Whitehaven News instigated by …us!   There is a definite whiff around this coal mine – and its not just the methane.

West Cumbria Mining and Murray Energy

Up in Smoke – Photo by icon0.com on Pexels.com

West Cumbria Mining entered into “an exclusive marketing and offtake agreement”  with Javelin Global Commodities .whose major stakeholder is Murray Energy on October 14th .  On October 29th the New York Times reported that Murray Energy had filed for bankruptcy.  

West Cumbria Mining say that “The agreement will see Javelin purchasing 100% of WCM’s production output”.   The major stakeholder of Javelin Global Commodities is Murray Energy.  Javelin was founded as a joint venture between Murray Energy Corporation and Uniper. (Uniper has interests in nuclear decommissioning and waste.)

Now CNN business reports that:

‘Nervous and scared.’ Coal workers fear for pensions after Murray Energy bankruptcy

New York (CNN Business)

“Tom Kacsmar worked underground at a coal mine for nearly four decades. The promise of a decent pension and healthcare for life kept him at this dangerous job.

Now, Kacsmar fears those benefits will get washed away by the bankruptcy of Murray Energy, America’s largest private coal mining company.

I’m really worried. I know they are going to wipe away my pension.”

RYAN COTTRELL, WHO WORKS AT A WEST VIRGINIA COAL MINE OWNED BY MURRAY ENERGY

“I was a proud, hard-working coal miner my entire life. With the stroke of a pen, they’re going to cut my healthcare,” the 76-year-old retiree told CNN Business.

Kacsmar never worked a day for Murray Energy, the mining giant founded by coal king Robert Murray. But like countless other retirees, the fate of his benefits is inextricably linked to the company, which is seeking to “dramatically” slash its liabilities, including $8 billion of pension and retiree healthcare obligations.”

Major force behind Javelin Global Commodities – the new partner of WCM has now gone into the US bankruptcy procedure….hot off the press

West Cumbria Mining entered into partnership with Javelin Global Commodities whose major stakeholder is Murray Energy on October 14th.

Today the New York Times reports….

Murray Energy Is 8th Coal Company in a Year to Seek Bankruptcy

A bulldozer moving coal at the Murray Energy Corporation port facility in Powhatan Point, Ohio.Credit…Joshua Roberts/Reuters

By Clifford Krauss

• Oct. 29, 2019Updated 2:50 p.m. ET

 

Murray Energy, once a symbol of American mining prowess, has become the eighth coal company in a year to file for bankruptcy protection. The move on Tuesday is the latest sign that market forces are throttling the Trump administration’s bid to save the industry.

The collapse of the Ohio-based company had long been expected as coal-fired power plants close across the country.

Its chief executive, Robert E. Murray, has been an outspoken supporter and adviser of President Trump. He had lobbied extensively for Washington to support coal-fired power plants.

Mr. Murray gave up his position as chief executive and was replaced on Tuesday by Robert Moore, the former chief financial officer. Mr. Murray, who will remain chairman, expressed optimism that the company would survive with a lighter debt load.

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“Although a bankruptcy filing is not an easy decision, it became necessary to access liquidity,” he said in a statement, “and best position Murray Energy and its affiliates for the future of our employees and customers and our long-term success.”

Murray, the nation’s largest privately held coal company, has nearly 7,000 employees and operates 17 mines in six states across Appalachia and the South as well as two mines in Colombia. It produces more than 70 million tons of coal annually.

But with utilities quickly switching to cheap natural gas and renewable sources like wind and solar power, Murray and other coal companies have been shutting down mines and laying off workers. Murray’s bankruptcy follows those of industry stalwarts like Cloud Peak Energy, Cambrian Coal and Blackjewel.

Murray was most closely identified with Trump administration promises to reverse the industry’s fortunes.

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Mr. Murray contributed $300,000 to Mr. Trump’s inauguration. Shortly after, he wrote Mr. Trump a confidential memo with his wish list for the industry, including shaving regulations on greenhouse gas emissions and ozone and mine safety, along with cutting the staff at the Environmental Protection Agency by at least 50 percent. Several of the suggestions were adopted.

 

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New Partner – Javelin Global Commodities “aims to ramp up its coal trading”

This is PLANNED Under the Irish Sea just five miles from Sellafield – what could go wrong? We need to STOP THIS! 

New partner for West Cumbria Mining. London-based Javelin launched in 2015 and is 34 percent owned by U.S. coal miner Murray Energy, 28 percent owned by German utility E.ON and 38 percent owned by its principal traders, some of whom were previously at Goldman Sachs…

WCM have just published this here:

“West Cumbria Mining is pleased to announce that it has entered into an exclusive marketing and offtake agreement with Javelin Global Commodities.

This agreement represents a major milestone in the development of WCM’s flagship Woodhouse Colliery project and is a key step towards a world class underground metallurgical coal mine. It also demonstrates the confidence that Javelin has in a premium UK source of steelmaking coal and the long-term market demand for this sector critical product.

The agreement will see Javelin purchasing 100% of WCM’s production output and selling this to steelmaking customers in the UK and Europe, on terms which will reduce the payment time for coal deliveries from weeks to days. The structure will free up several million pounds of working capital facility on WCM’s balance sheet, providing significant assistance during the early years of the mine’s production.

West Cumbria Mining CEO, Mark Kirkbride, commented; ‘I am delighted to be able to announce this exclusive agreement with Javelin, following on from extensive dialogue and a very clear joint objective to ensure that Cumbrian steelmaking coal is supplied into the UK and European steel industry via a world class, highly respected specialist commodity trader. This is a key step for the project, and my team and I are looking forward to working collaboratively with Javelin to demonstrate real value and innovation to our customers.’

Peter Bradley, CEO of Javelin Global Commodities, (formerly MD of Goldman Sachs) commented; ‘Javelin is very pleased to be partnering with such an outstanding mining project and with a group of management and investors that have a history of delivering world class mining operations.

I am particularly excited to introduce this strong steel making coal to the domestic UK and European export markets at a time where competitively priced feedstock is needed to support the industry in its efforts to compete with low cost imports of steel. I am confident the project will get the final funding it needs, and Javelin looks forward to supporting West Cumbria throughout the development.”

SUPERFICIALLY this is being given a most shiny PR SPIN.   But there is a lot for sceptics to take notice of.

One of our Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole colleagues has made the observations that:

“Firstly, Javelin has been going less time than WCM has.  Founded in 2015 it has a complex control and accounting structure but it is essentially a couple of city blokes backed by a German finance company and a US coal company.  Secondly, you can see from both Kirkbride’s and Bradley’s comments that they are having difficulties getting funding and for why that might be you only need to research Sirius Mineralsover in the NYMNP.  Thirdly, Javelin has picked bad’uns before, see here.  Finally, Murray Energy, the coal company, are the main backers of Javelin and they are in deep trouble.  All in all they can spin it up but this looks like desperation from both of them.”