Business and Basis of Presentation

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Business and Basis of Presentation

Business and Basis of Presentation

Description of the Business

Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (the "Company") is a U.S.-based, environmentally and socially minded supplier to the global steel industry. The Company is dedicated entirely to mining non-thermal metallurgical (met) coal used as a critical component of steel production by metal manufacturers in Europe, South America and Asia. The Company is a large-scale, low-cost producer and exporter of premium met coal, also known as hard-coking coal ("HCC"), operating highly efficient longwall operations in its underground mines based in Alabama. The HCC that the Company produces from the Blue Creek coal seam contains very low sulfur, has strong coking properties and is of a similar quality to coal referred to as the premium HCC produced in Australia. The Company also generates ancillary revenues from the sale of natural gas extracted as a byproduct from the underground coal mines and royalty revenues from leased properties.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Warrior Met Coal, Inc and its subsidiaries (the "Company"). All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic Upon our Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The global steelmaking industry's demand for met coal is affected by pandemics, epidemics or other public health emergencies, such as the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus ("COVID-19"), which has spread from China to many other countries including the United States. In March 2020, the World Health Organization ("WHO") declared COVID-19 a pandemic, and the President of the United States declared the COVID-19 outbreak a national emergency. The outbreak has resulted in governments around the world implementing stringent measures to help control the spread of the virus, including quarantines, "shelter in place" and "stay at home" orders, travel restrictions, business curtailments, school closures, and other measures. In addition, governments and central banks in several parts of the world have enacted fiscal and monetary stimulus measures to counteract the impacts of COVID-19.

The Company operates in a critical infrastructure industry, as defined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As such, the Company continues to operate its mines in a safe manner under the guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Alabama State Health Department. In response to these measures and for the protection of employees, the Company has taken steps to ensure our employees remain safe. As of the filing of this Form 10-K, the Company has not had to idle or temporarily idle its mines.

Notwithstanding our continued operations, COVID-19 has had and may continue to have further negative impacts on our two operating mines, supply chain, transportation networks and customers, which may continue to compress our margins, and reduce demand for the met coal that we produce. The COVID-19 outbreak is a widespread public health crisis that is adversely affecting the economies and financial markets of many countries, including those of our customers, which are primarily located in Europe, South America and Asia. A prolonged economic downturn could adversely affect demand for our met coal and contribute to volatile supply and demand conditions affecting prices and volumes. The progression of COVID-19 could also negatively impact our business or results of operations through the temporary closure of one of our mines, customers or critical suppliers, or the McDuffie Coal Terminal at the Port of Mobile in Alabama, or a disruption to our rail and barge carriers, which would delay or prevent deliveries to our customers, among others.

In addition, the ability of our employees and our suppliers' and customers' employees to work may be significantly impacted by individuals contracting or being exposed to COVID-19, or as a result of the control measures noted above, which may significantly affect the demand for met coal. Our customers may be directly impacted by business curtailments or weak market conditions and may not be willing or able to fulfill their contractual obligations or open letters of credit. We may also experience delays in obtaining letters of credit or processing letter of credit payments due to the impacts of COVID-19 on foreign issuing and U.S. intermediary banks. Furthermore, the progression of, and global response to, the COVID-19 outbreak has begun to cause, and increases the risk of, further delays in construction activities and equipment deliveries related to our capital projects, including potential delays in obtaining permits from government agencies. The extent of such delays and other

effects of COVID-19 on our capital projects, certain of which are outside of our control, is unknown, but they may impact or delay the timing of anticipated benefits of capital projects.