St. Louis, Missouri-based Patriot Coal, a producer and marketer of thermal and metallurgical coal products in the eastern United States, announced Monday that Patriot and substantially all of its wholly-owned subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in Bankruptcy Court. Patriot expects its mining operations and customer shipments to continue in the ordinary course throughout the reorganization process.
"The coal industry is undergoing a major transformation and Patriot's existing capital structure prevents it from making the necessary adjustments to achieve long-term success," said Patriot Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Irl F. Engelhardt. Patriot's business outlook has been impacted by a number of challenges that are affecting the coal industry, including reductions in US thermal coal demand due to competition from low priced natural gas, challenging environmental regulations affecting the cost of producing and using coal, and weaker international and domestic economies.