SunCoke Energy, Inc. (NYSE: SXC) and VISA Steel Limited (BSE: 532721 and
NSE: VISASTEEL) announced today the official launch of their cokemaking
joint venture in India. The new joint venture will be called VISA
SunCoke Limited. SunCoke Energy holds a 49% interest in the
joint venture, with VISA Steel holding the remaining 51%. SunCoke has
invested approximately Rs. 368 Crores (USD 67 million) to acquire a 49%
stake in the joint venture.
VISA SunCoke Limited is comprised of a 400,000 metric ton
heat recovery coke plant, and the associated steam generation units at
Kalinganagar in Odisha, India. SunCoke and VISA Steel will co-manage the
business with equal representation on the partnership’s board.
“This partnership marks a key milestone in SunCoke Energy’s
international growth strategy. By teaming with VISA Steel, SunCoke is
entering India with the wisdom and experience of a premier and highly
regarded local partner,” said Frederick “Fritz” Henderson, Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of SunCoke Energy, Inc. Henderson emphasized,
“As infrastructure, housing and transportation needs accelerate in
India, local steelmaking companies will require high quality coke and VISA
SunCoke is prepared to be their supplier of choice.”
Vishambhar Saran, Chairman of VISA Steel said, “We are pleased to
finalize our partnership with SunCoke and it’s a great opportunity for VISA
SunCoke to leverage its operating and technological expertise to
serve customers across India with the highest quality coke. The coke
industry in India is a key market that offers attractive growth
opportunities and we believe that VISA SunCoke is
well-positioned to grow its coke business and become an industry leader.”
SUNCOKE ENERGY, INC.
SunCoke Energy, Inc. is the largest independent producer of
metallurgical coke in the Americas, with 50 years of experience
supplying coke to the integrated steel industry. Our advanced, heat
recovery cokemaking process produces high-quality coke for use in
steelmaking, captures waste heat for derivative energy resale and meets
or exceeds environmental standards. Our cokemaking facilities are
located in Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Vitoria, Brazil, and
our coal mining operations, which have more than 114 million tons of
proven and probable reserves, are located in Virginia and West Virginia.
To learn more about SunCoke Energy, Inc., visit website www.suncoke.com.
VISA STEEL LIMITED
VISA Steel is a leading player in the specialty steel, sponge iron, coke
and ferro chrome industry in India with manufacturing facilities located
at Kalinganagar Industrial Complex in Odisha. VISA Steel has transferred
its business of manufacturing and sale of metallurgical coke and
associated steam generation units located at Kalinganagar, Odisha by way
of slump sale on a going concern basis to VISA SunCoke Limited
where it holds 51% stake. VISA Steel also holds a 65% stake in VISA BAO
Limited, a joint venture company with Baosteel, one of China’s leading
steel companies, which is setting up a ferro chrome plant in Odisha.
Further information about VISA Steel is available at www.visasteel.com.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of the statements included in this press release constitute
“forward looking statements” (as defined in Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended). Such forward-looking statements are
based on SunCoke Energy’s management’s beliefs and assumptions and on
information currently available. You should not put undue reliance on
any forward-looking statements. 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,” “project,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “estimate,”
“predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “may,” “will,” “should” or the
negative of these terms or similar expressions. Forward-looking
statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions.
Risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements include
economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory factors affecting
SunCoke Energy’s business, as well as uncertainties related to the
outcomes of pending or future litigation, legislation, or regulatory
actions. Among such risks are: changes in levels of production,
production capacity, pricing and/or margins for metallurgical coal and
coke; variation in availability, quality and supply of metallurgical
coal used in the cokemaking process, including as a result of
non-performance by our suppliers; changes in the marketplace that may
affect supply and demand for our metallurgical coal and/or coke
products, including increased exports of coke from China related to
reduced export duties and export quotas and increasing competition from
alternative steelmaking and cokemaking technologies that have the
potential to reduce or eliminate the use of metallurgical coke; our
dependence on, and relationships with, and other conditions affecting,
our customers; severe financial hardship or bankruptcy of one of more of
our major customers, or the occurrence of a customer default and other
events affecting our ability to collect payments from our customers;
volatility and cyclical downturns in the carbon steel industry and other
industries in which our customers operate; our ability to enter into
new, or renew existing, long-term agreements upon favorable terms for
the supply of metallurgical coke to domestic and/or foreign steel
producers; our ability to develop, design, permit, construct, start up
or operate new cokemaking facilities in the U.S.; our ability to
successfully implement our international growth strategy; our ability to
realize expected benefits from investments and acquisitions, including
our investment in the Indian joint venture; our ability to consummate
investments under favorable terms, including with respect to existing
cokemaking facilities, which may utilize by-product technology, in the
U.S. and Canada, and integrate them into our existing businesses and
have them perform at anticipated levels; the timing and structure of the
planned MLP may change; unanticipated developments may delay or
negatively impact the planned MLP; receipt of regulatory approvals and
compliance with contractual obligations required in connection with the
planned MLP; the impact of the planned MLP on our relationships with our
employees, customers and vendors and our credit rating and cost of
funds; changes in market conditions; future opportunities that our Board
of Directors may determine present greater potential value to
stockholders than the planned MLP; age of, and changes in the
reliability, efficiency and capacity of the various equipment and
operating facilities used in our coal mining and/or cokemaking
operations, and in the operations of our major customers, business
partners and/or suppliers; changes in the expected operating levels of
our assets; our ability to meet minimum volume requirements,
coal-to-coke yield standards and coke quality requirements in our coke
sales agreements; changes in the level of capital expenditures or
operating expenses, including any changes in the level of environmental
capital, operating or remediation expenditures; our ability to service
our outstanding indebtedness; our ability to comply with the
restrictions imposed by our financing arrangements; nonperformance or
force majeure by, or disputes with or changes in contract terms with,
major customers, suppliers, dealers, distributors or other business
partners; availability of skilled employees for our coal mining and/or
cokemaking operations, and other workplace factors; effects of railroad,
barge, truck and other transportation performance and costs, including
any transportation disruptions; effects of adverse events relating to
the operation of our facilities and to the transportation and storage of
hazardous materials (including equipment malfunction, explosions, fires,
spills, and the effects of severe weather conditions); our ability to
enter into joint ventures and other similar arrangements under favorable
terms; changes in the availability and cost of equity and debt
financing; impact on our liquidity and ability to raise capital as a
result of changes in the credit ratings assigned to our indebtedness;
changes in credit terms required by our suppliers; risks related to
labor relations and workplace safety; changes in, or new, statutes,
regulations, governmental policies and taxes, or their interpretations,
including those relating to the environment and global warming; the
existence of hazardous substances or other environmental contamination
on property owned or used by us; the availability of future permits
authorizing the disposition of certain mining waste; claims of our
noncompliance with any statutory and regulatory requirements; changes in
the status of, or initiation of new litigation, arbitration, or other
proceedings to which we are a party or liability resulting from such
litigation, arbitration, or other proceedings; historical combined and
consolidated financial data may not be reliable indicator of future
results; effects resulting from our separation from Sunoco, Inc.;
incremental costs as a stand-alone public company; our substantial
indebtedness; certain covenants in our debt documents; our ability to
secure new coal supply agreements or to renew existing coal supply
agreements; our ability to acquire or develop coal reserves in an
economically feasible manner; defects in title or the loss of one or
more mineral leasehold interests; disruptions in the quantities of coal
produced by our contract mine operators; our ability to obtain and renew
mining permits, and the availability and cost of surety bonds needed in
our coal mining operations; changes in product specifications for either
the coal or coke that we produce; changes in insurance markets impacting
costs and the level and types of coverage available, and the financial
ability of our insurers to meet their obligations; changes in accounting
rules and/or tax laws or their interpretations, including the method of
accounting for inventories, leases and/or pensions; changes in financial
markets impacting pension expense and funding requirements; the accuracy
of our estimates of reclamation and other mine closure obligations; and
effects of geologic conditions, weather, natural disasters and other
inherent risks beyond our control. Unpredictable or unknown factors not
disclosed in this release also could have material adverse effects on
forward-looking statements.
In accordance with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, SunCoke Energy has included in its
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission cautionary language
identifying important factors (but not necessarily all the important
factors) that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
expressed in any forward-looking statement made by SunCoke Energy. For
more information concerning these factors, see SunCoke Energy’s
Securities and Exchange Commission filings. All forward-looking
statements included in this press release are expressly qualified in
their entirety by such cautionary statements. SunCoke Energy does 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 press release
except as required by applicable law.
