"Walter Energy acquired the assets of Mobile River Terminal Co. in Mobile, Ala., from a subsidiary of U.S. Steel, according to an article in Tampa Bay Business Journal.

The article reported "The terminal has significant strategic importance, said Joe Leonard, interim chief executive of Walter Energy (NYSE: WLT), a producer and exporter of coal. Walter Energy is headquartered in Tampa and has operations in Alabama.

The terminal is located at the Port of Mobile, less than four miles from the McDuffie Terminal where Walter Energy currently ships all of its export coal to customers in South America and Europe, a company statement said.

The acquisition will help Walter Energy ensure it will have unconstrained shipping capacity and should help maintain low mine-to-port costs and make Walter less reliant on third parties, Leonard said in the statement."