The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

CLF was +8% today on this news, closing just shy of its 2009 high.
These production increases for iron and met coal from CLF’s No.
American business effectively undo the production cuts in this
business announced only two months ago (#msg-39273499).
Inasmuch as steel is a good proxy for general economic activity,
this news is pretty strong evidence that the recession is over!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Cliffs-Natural-Resources-Inc-bw-486661743.html?x=0&.v=1

›Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. Increases Production and Sales Volume Expectations for North American Business Unit

Friday September 11, 2009, 8:30 am EDT

CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF ) (Paris: CLF) today 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.

North American Iron Ore

Cliffs now expects its North American Iron Ore business segment to recognize sales volume of approximately 16 million long tons in 2009, an increase from the Company’s previous expectation of 13 million to 14 million tons. In addition, Cliffs expects to collect cash for approximately 3 million tons of “bill and hold” sales in 2009. These “bill and hold” sales are unlikely to meet revenue recognition requirements. This new expectation compares with a previous expectation of 3 million 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.

North American Coal

Cliffs also raised its 2009 expected sales volume for its North American Coal business segment to approximately 1.8 million short tons, from a previous expectation of 1.5 million tons. North American Coal production volume is expected to be 1.8 million tons, up from a previous expectation of 1.3 million tons.

Donald J. Gallagher, president of Cliffs’ North American business unit, said, “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. We will continue to monitor the markets closely to ensure we adjust production appropriately to meet demand as needed.”

About Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.

Cliffs Natural Resources is an international mining and natural resources company. We are 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. With core values of environmental and capital stewardship, our colleagues across the globe endeavor to provide all stakeholders operating and financial transparency as embodied in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework. Our 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.

Over recent years, Cliffs has been executing a strategy designed to achieve scale in the mining industry and focused on serving the world’s largest and fastest growing steel markets.‹