Cliffs CEO promises continued growth in 2018 – by John Myers (Duluth News Tribune – January 25, 2018)

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Cleveland-Cliffs had a good year mining and selling Minnesota and Michigan iron ore in 2017, the company reported Thursday, and should have an even better year in 2018.

Cliffs nearly doubled net revenue, hitting $371 million in 2017. That’s up from $199 million in 2016 as the company and industry continue to rise out of the global iron ore doldrums of 2015.

The nation’s largest producer of taconite iron ore pellets, used to make steel, had full-year 2017 consolidated revenues of $2.3 billion, compared to the prior year’s revenues of $2.1 billion, although revenue in the fourth quarter was actually down from 2016.

Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves told mining industry analysts in a conference call that he promised one year ago that 2017 would see strong and steady growth “and we delivered.” “Our customers have a strong appetite for pellets,” Goncalves said, promising increased growth in 2018.

Cleveland-based Cliffs owns and operates United Taconite in Eveleth/Forbes and Northshore Mining in Silver Bay/Babbitt, and is operator and part-owner of Hibbing Taconite. It also owns and operates the Tilden mine and processing center in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

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