Cliffs Natural Resources - 21st Century

21st Century

In 2002, LTV Steel, a partner in the Empire Mine managed by CCI, closed and the Empire was idled for 6 months. Cleveland-Cliffs stock plummeted. President George W. Bush enacted steel tariffs that helped domestically produced steel rebound.

In the years following the introduction of steel tariffs, a sharp increase in steel production in China and other developing countries led to a significant upswing in the price of global iron ore. This trend benefited Cleveland-Cliffs after the two lean decades that had preceded it. To remain competitive, Cleveland-Cliffs decided to expand globally and to diversify into other minerals, leading to the acquisition of iron-ore properties in Brazil and Australia and coal properties in Australia and the US.

In June 2007, Cleveland-Cliffs purchased its first domestic coal property. The coal company, called PinnOak, mines coal in Alabama and West Virginia and once belonged to U.S. Steel. In line with its venture into coal, the company changed its name from Cleveland-Cliffs to Cliffs Natural Resources in October 2008.

On January 11, 2011 it was reported that Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Limited agreed to a US$4.9 billion takeover by Cliffs Natural Resources ($200 million of that was already owned, the cost includes debt (In September 2011 Thompson reported $230.56 million in long term with $566.07 million in total liabilities). The deal, scheduled to close in the second quarter saves both companies a combined US$75 million in operating expense (partly due to many of their facilities being adjacent to one another). The deal gives Cliffs the large Bloom Lake iron ore mine in the province of Quebec, very close to Labrador.

On May 5, 2011 Cliffs Natural Resources was added to the Fortune 500 list of companies. Its ranking of 477 was based on the company's performance in 2010.