SunCoke Energy Reports First Quarter Production
04/06/2012 - SunCoke Energy, Inc. reported preliminary first quarter 2012 U.S. coke production of 1,072 thousand tons, an estimated increase of 211,000 tons, or 25%, compared to the same period in 2011. Its total U.S. coke-making capacity utilization was 100% in first quarter 2012 versus 95% a year ago.
SunCoke Energy, Inc. reported preliminary first quarter 2012 U.S. coke production of 1,072 thousand tons, an estimated increase of 211,000 tons, or 25%, compared to the same period in 2011. Its total U.S. coke-making capacity utilization was 100% in first quarter 2012 versus 95% in first quarter 2011.
Estimated U.S. production of Jewell coke was 174,000 tons, the same amount as in first quarter 2011. Production of other domestic coke was 898,000 tons, compared to 687,000 tons in the same period last year.
The increase in estimated coke production for the quarter was primarily due to the estimated 144 thousand tons of coke produced at its new Middletown, Ohio, facility, which began operations in late October 2011. The Middletown facility has achieved 100% capacity utilization ahead of schedule, but has incurred higher-than-normal operating expenses in the first quarter due to startup-related costs.
U.S. coke production in the first quarter also benefited from improved operations at the company’s Indiana Harbor facility, which produced an estimated 37,000 more tons of coke in first quarter 2012 versus the same period in 2011.
The company tentatively plans to report first quarter 2012 financial results before market open on May 1, 2012.
SunCoke Energy, Inc. is the largest independent producer of metallurgical coke in the Americas, with about 50 years of experience supplying coke to the integrated steel industry. Its coke-making facilities are located in Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Vitoria, Brazil, and its coal mining operations, which have more than 114 million tons of proven and probable reserves, are located in Virginia and West Virginia.
