TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – St Louis-based coal-miner Peabody Energy has adjusted the reporting channels for its coal sales and coal trading units, to reflect the company's focus on expanded access to the fast-growing Asia-Pacific markets, it said on Monday.

The president of the CoalSales business, Bryan Galli, will now be responsible for sale of all the company's coal, including US and Australian metallurgical, thermal and industrial products. In the past, the Australian coal sales reported to Peabody's CoalTrade International president, Paul Demzik.

Demzik, on the other hand, will now be responsible for all Peabody's global trading and marketing activities. US trading and brokerage activities previously reported to Galli.

In Australia, Peabody is seeking to grow coal production from metallurgical and thermal coal mines in Queensland and New South Wales and the company is “rapidly increasing” its trading activities in the Asia-Pacific region, including developing a new Southeast Asia coal trading, brokerage and sourcing hub, planned for either Hong Kong or Singapore.

It already has offices in Brisbane, Sydney, Newcastle, Beijing, London, Venezuela and the US.

The company also has joint-venture and business development activities under way in China, Mongolia, Australia and other countries, Peabody said.

Last year, Peabody sold 256-million tons of coal and reported $6,6-billion in revenue.

According to the company, its coal products fuel 10% of all US electricity generation and 2% of worldwide electricity.

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