Cliffs Increases Production and Sales Volume Expectations for NA Business Unit
09/14/2009 - Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. announced increased production and sales volume expectations in its North American Iron Ore and North American Coal business segments.
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. announced increased production and sales volume expectations in its North American business unit, which includes its North American Iron Ore and North American Coal business segments.
The company now expects its North American Iron Ore business segment to register a sales volume of about 16 million long tons in 2009, an increase from its previous expectation of 13 to 14 million tons. Cliffs also expects to collect cash for about 3 million tons of “bill and hold” sales in 2009, which are unlikely to meet revenue recognition requirements. This new expectation compares with a previous expectation of 3 to 4 million tons of “bill and hold” sales.
North American Iron Ore equity production volume in 2009 is expected to be 17 million tons, up from a previous expectation of 15 million tons.
Cliffs also raised its 2009 expected sales volume for its North American Coal Business segment to about 1.8 million short tons, from a previous expectation of 1.5 million tons. Production volume is expected to be 1.8 million tons, up 0.5 million tons from its previous expectation.
“As our customers are increasing steel production and restarting blast furnaces in North America and Europe, we are seeing modest improvements in orders and in market expectations for steelmaking raw materials,” said Donald J. Gallagher, President of Cliffs’ North American business unit. “We will continue to monitor the markets closely to ensure we adjust production appropriately to meet demand as needed.”
Cliffs Natural Resources, an international mining and natural resources company, is the largest producer of iron ore pellets in North America, a major supplier of direct-shipping lump and fines iron ore out of Australia, and a significant producer of metallurgical coal. The company is organized through three geographic business units: The North American business unit is comprised of six iron ore mines owned or managed in Michigan, Minnesota, and Eastern Canada, and two coking coal mining complexes located in West Virginia and Alabama. The Asia Pacific business unit is comprised of two iron ore mining complexes in Western Australia and a 45% economic interest in a coking and thermal coal mine in Queensland, Australia. The South American business unit includes a 30% interest in the Amapá Project, an iron ore project in the state of Amapá in Brazil.
