Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF)

Profile

Exchange: NYSE       Sector: Basic Materials       Industry: Steel & Iron

Cliffs Natural Resources, formerly Cleveland-Cliffs, is a Cleveland, Ohio business firm that specializes in the mining and beneficiation of iron ore and the mining of coal. The firm is an independent company whose shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The firm has stated that it had approximately 4,000 employees and a 28% share of the iron-ore pellet market. After acquiring Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines in January 2011 for US$4.9 billion in a negotiated deal (won't close until the 2nd quarter) Cliff's will control 10 iron ore facilities, 6 coal mines and a chrome project with the capacity to produce upwards of 46 million tonnes of iron ore pellets (30) and concentrate (16). Prior to the January 11 deal Cliffs owned 2-3% of the company, 19% of Consolidated Thompson is being purchased from Wuhan Iron and Steel Group of China. The deal gives Cliffs Natural Resources exposure outside of North America (Consolidated Thompson has long term deals with China's third biggest steel producer and two other Asian commodity brokers. The company started producing (and receiving revenue from) coal only since the third quarter of 2007. The company, formerly known as Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.