Coal firm Bowie proposes public offering

OREANDA-NEWS. February 10, 2015. Western bituminous coal producer Bowie Resource Partners submitted a draft registration statement today to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to propose an initial public offering.

Bowie, a limited liability company, said this morning it has formed a limited partnership to own and operate certain coal mining assets in the Uinta basin. It submitted a confidential draft registration statement through that partnership to the SEC relating to proposing an initial public offering of common units.

Few details of the proposed public offering were made available, as the company cited public disclosure laws pending review by the SEC.

"The date, number of common units to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined," Bowie said today. "The initial offering of the common units is subject to a number of factors, including completion of the SEC review process with respect to the registration statement, as well as to market conditions and other considerations, and there can be no assurance that there will be an initial public offering of the common units or any other transaction."

Bowie owns one Colorado mine and three Utah mines. Bowie acquired the three Utah Canyon Fuels mines in mid-2013 from Arch Coal and has since been exporting western bituminous coal through the Stockton and Levin-Richmond port facilities in California and in partnership with the trading arm of Trafigura.

Much of the coal exported through the San Francisco region last year went to Mexico's federal electricity commission CFE. But Bowie was said to have lost a September tender with CFE, which was instead awarded to Switzerland-based commodities trading firm Glencore and Mexico's Soluciones Petronavales for 5.8mn st of coal for delivery in July 2015 through July 2016. Smaller volumes have shipped through the San Francisco Census region to China, Guatemala and Japan, with about 116,000st going to Japan in November and December. US Census data show more than 3mn st of coal left the San Francisco district last year, compared with 1.3mn st in 2013.

Bowie grew production at its three Canyon Fuels mines in Utah by about 18pc to a total of 11.3mn short tons (10.25mn metric tonnes) in 2014 from the prior year. That is more than half the state of Utah's 17.9mn st of production.

Bowie also entered a new supply agreement with PacifiCorp in December to fill all fuel requirements for the 895MW Huntington power plant in Utah, estimated at 2.8mn st/yr through 2029. Bowie will replace lost supply from PacifiCorp's Deer Creek mine, which will close this summer.

But in Colorado, Bowie lost a contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority in late October, causing it to cut production by 1mn st/yr from its No. 2 mine. Domestic demand for Colorado coal has been hit by the long rail haul to eastern US generators and more plentiful, lower-priced coal in other basins.

In 2014, Bowie No. 2 produced 2.4mn st, down by 28pc from the prior year.