Peabody Energy has filed for US bankruptcy protection, citing poor coal prices, the Guardian reported. Peabody is the world’s largest privately owned coal producer.
As quoted in the publication:
The company listed both assets and liabilities in the range of $10bn (£7bn) to $50bn, according to a court filing on Wednesday.
Peabody’s chapter 11 bankruptcy filing ranks among the largest in the commodities sector since energy and metals prices began to fall in the middle of 2014 as once fast-growing markets such as and Brazil began to slow.
Peabody’s debt troubles date back to its $5.1bn leveraged buyout of Australia’s Macarthur in 2011, a coveted asset at the time meant to position it as a supplier of metallurgical coal for Asian steel mills.
But as demand for metallurgical coal fell, particularly in China, Peabody’s financial woes intensified. It made a $700m writedown on its Australian metallurgical coal assets last year.
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