Coal giant to cut 250 jobs

Peabody Energy Inc. said Monday that it would cut 250 jobs amid a historic slowdown in the coal industry that shows little sign of stopping.

The jobs at the world’s largest private coal mining company would come from corporate and regional offices, including its St. Louis, Mo., headquarters that employed 500 people last year, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

{mosads}The cut affects about 25 percent of the corporate and regional staff, Peabody told the Post-Dispatch. Regional offices in Indiana and Wyoming will close completely.

Glenn Kellow, Peabody’s chief executive officer, expects to save between $40 million and $45 million annually from the cuts in an effort “to remain cost competitive.”

“While we regret the impact that these actions have on employees, their families and communities, today’s announcement represents another necessary step to drive the company lower on the cost curve,” Kellow said in a statement.

Two of Peabody’s leading executives agreed in April to take 10 percent pay cuts for the remainder of 2015 as part of the cost-cutting efforts.

Coal prices have come under pressure in recent years due to a variety of factors, mainly competition from cheap and plentiful natural gas and strengthening environmental regulations that make burning coal more and more expensive.