The fortunes of U.S. coal companies continue to fade. The ongoing switch to natural gas and renewable energy continues to damage coal miners. Coal plants are shuttering amid weak demand, and the international market is not looking any better. Prices for metallurgical coal, which is used to make steel, are hovering around their lowest levels in more than a decade. Dipping below $100 per metric ton, coal prices are now 70 percent lower than they were four years ago. Coal stocks have taken a beating as a result. Peabody Energy Corporation, the world’s…

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