Chief executive officer Richard Whiting, speaking before stockholders Thursday at the company’s annual meeting in St Louis, said it is these factors that will enable it to navigate the global coal markets.

“We are focused on growth markets, including metallurgical coal production and our worldwide exports,” Whiting said.

Its efforts are solidified, the executive said, by its experienced management team as well as its strong culture of safety and environmental stewardship and disciplined planning and execution methodology.

“In addition, we have flexibility in products and transportation to best serve our customers and a modular mine portfolio that provides the versatility to dial production up or down in a timely manner in response to market conditions,” Whiting said.

During his address, the CEO also confirmed that Patriot once again achieved record safety results last year. Additionally, the producer earned nine first-place awards at the US Department of Labor’s National Mine Rescue Contest last October.

The annual meeting also saw the re-election of three board members, all well-known pillars of the industry, including retired Consol Energy chairman, president and chief executive officer BR Brown.

Also taking seats once again were company chairman and former Peabody Energy chairman and chief executive officer Irl Engelhardt and ex-Millennium Chemicals CFO John Lushefski. All three men will serve three-year terms on Patriot’s board.

Patriot, spun off from Peabody in 2007, is now one of the largest coal miners east of the Mississippi River. It operates 13 mining complexes in West Virginia and Kentucky and controls about 1.9 billion tons of proven and probable reserves.

While the producer said earlier this week that it posted a net loss in the first quarter, it also made strides in its strategy in both the short- and long-term future.

For the balance of the year, Patriot has projected sales volumes between 25 and 27Mt, including met coal sales of 7-7.4Mt.

“Since the beginning of 2012, in response to new challenges facing our business, the Patriot management team has taken numerous swift and decisive actions to put the company on a more stable footing going forward,” Whiting said May 8.

“We have reduced thermal coal production by over four million annual tons, delayed expansions under our Met Build-Out program, implemented major cost reduction initiatives, and worked with our customers to better meet their changing requirements,” adding that Patriot – like its other mining peers – has suffered from a “major structural change” in operating portfolios amid lower natural gas prices and increasingly-challenging environmental regulations.

Another official added: “During the quarter, we successfully restructured a legacy customer contract that included deliveries through 2017; the contract was previously priced not only below market, but also below cost, so we are pleased with this successful outcome that will benefit our earnings for the next six years.

“As a result of the negotiation, this contract volume of approximately 1.6Mt annual will not be sold at a loss, but will instead be available for sale in the future at market prices.”