Walter Energy, which has three coal projects in Alabama, bought the assets of Mobile River Terminal Co from a unit of U.S. Steel for an undisclosed price.
"This acquisition will help ensure that we will have unconstrained shipping capacity to support our long-term coking coal production plans in Alabama," interim Chief Executive Joe Leonard said in a statement.
The facility would help Walter maintain low mine-to-port costs and make it less reliant on third parties, Leonard said.
The facility is located less than four miles from the McDuffie Terminal where Walter Energy currently ships all of its coal to customers in South America and Europe.
Currently, Mobile River Terminal handles 3.2 million tons of iron ore, 1 million tons of furnace coke, and 0.5 million tons of other products annually, according to its website.
The acquisition comes three weeks after Walter signed a deal to buy Canada's Western Coal for $3.3 billion putting it on track to become the world's No. 3 producer of steel-making met coal at a time of booming demand. (Reuters)
