Steel Products Prices North America
April 21, 2018
Cleveland Cliffs Reports Strong Start to 'Good Year'
Written by Sandy Williams
Cleveland Cliffs reported an outstanding performance by its U.S. iron ore segment in first-quarter 2018. Restocking of customer inventory and an early break in the weather favoring vessel shipments drove sales of 1.6 million long tons of pellets. Shipping is expected to increase dramatically to 5.5 million long tons for the second quarter. As a result, Cliffs has increased its full-year sales volume expectations to 20.5 million long tons.
“The year started very well for our pellet business, with better-than-expected performance for both tonnage shipped and price realization,” said Cleveland Cliffs President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves. “The Great Lakes ice melting earlier than forecasted has helped our blast furnace clients to start a much needed replenishing of their depleted pellet inventories ahead of their own expectations.”
