Peabody Energy faces imminent bankruptcy

(MENAFN) Driven mainly by the continuing plummet in the coal mining industry, Peabody Energy, one of the world's biggest producers of coal, is at risk of going bankrupt in the very near future.

Additionally, the struggling Missouri-based giant has undertaken a huge program of cost-cutting in recent years hopping to stave off a massive tumble in the price of the commodity.

Prices for coal have followed the general trend for commodities in the past few years, crashing ever lower, hence coal's market price has declined since 2011, and dropped 41pct since late 2013.

Additionally, Peabody is not the first coal miner to experience serious trouble, with rivals Alpha Natural Resources and Arch Coal both filing for bankruptcy within the previous year.