Miners to be Laid Off as Peabody Scales Back Production
Bear Run Mine in Sullivan County (photo courtesy of Peabody Energy Co.)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA Sullivan county mine is laying off 35 workers as the company deals with decreasing demand for coal, according to our partners at WTHI-TV.
St. Louis-based Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) has announced it will layoff seven percent of the workforce at the Bear Run Mine.
The company says it is adjusting the workforce numbers to line up with expected production volumes.
“We recognize the hardship this difficult decision will cause to employees and families and have offered outplacement assistance and counseling to help minimize impacts,” said the company in a statement.
WTHI says Bear Run Mine opened in 2010 and is Peabody’s largest mine in the Illinois Basin. The mine sold approximately 6.9 million tons of coal to customers in 2018.
Peabody reported in its third quarter financial report it had a net loss of $78 million compared to net income of nearly $80M during the same period a year ago.
In the report, the energy company said it is optimizing its sourcing and leveraging of operating complexes in the Illinois Basin.
“Given decreased customer demand, the company is shifting contracts to more productive mines, extending contracted volumes into future years and scaling back production and workforces at several mines. The company is also working to improve the cost structure of its large-scale Bear Run Mine by adjusting mine plans and equipment utilization,” the company stated.