Peabody Energy, the largest coal producer in the United States (around 20% of domestic production), has secured US$1.5bn in financing from a group of banks including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to exit bankruptcy in the coming months. The group filed for bankruptcy protection (petition under Chapter 11) for the majority of its US entities in April 2016 (roughly US$8bn), due to falling prices (from around US$200/tonne in 2000, when coal covered half of the US power mix, to the current US$40/tonne, with coal accounting for a third of the power mix).
Peabody owns stakes in 26 mines in the United States and Australia, with about 3/4 of its production sold to the US power sector, that is increasingly shifting toward gas-fired generation. In August 2016, the group presented a new business plan, aiming to raise its total sales volumes from 168 Mt in 2016 to a range of 194 to 197 Mt/year between 2018 and 2021. Revenues are anticipated to be largely stable between US$4.4bn and US$4.6bn.