Ludtke will have responsibility for all aspects of the company's global revenues, including customer relationships, contract management, product optimization and trading activities.

He will report to Peabody president and chief commercial officer Richard A Navarre and will be based in St Louis.

Reporting to Ludtke is Bryan Galli, president of Peabody Coalsales, who will continue to drive sales and revenue growth from the company's global production base.

President of Peabody Coaltrade Paul Demzik, who leads the company's global trading and brokerage activities, and senior vice-president of global sales and trading support Chris Hagedorn, who leads marketing analytics and contract management, will also report to Ludtke.

"As Peabody continues to expand its global presence, we are fortunate to have a leader of Erik's caliber and background join our team," chairman and chief executive Gregory H Boyce said.

"Erik brings nearly a quarter century of energy sales, trading, planning and transportation experience in the United States, Europe, Asia, South America and the Middle East. He will play an essential role in increasing our sales and building on our global leadership position."

Ludtke has extensive global experience, having lived in Europe, Asia, South America and the Middle East. Most recently, he led US and Argentina oil and gas marketing and trading activities for Apache Corporation, a multinational oil and gas explorer and producer.

He previously served in multiple positions with integrated global gas producer BG Group, including project development in the Middle East and power marketing in India.

Ludtke also held a variety of executive positions at Duke Energy, directing European mergers and acquisitions; overseeing Latin American energy trading, marketing and power generation activities; and leading commercial risk management.

He earlier led development of a fuel trading group for US and Canadian power projects for Sithe Energies.