Cliffs Natural Inks Long-term Iron Ore Supply Deal With ArcelorMittal USA

(RTTNews) - Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (CLF) said it has entered into a new long-term commercial agreement with ArcelorMittal USA LLC (MT) to supply tailor-made iron ore pellets for the next ten years through 2026.

The company noted that the new agreement will replace two existing agreements expiring in December 2016 and January 2017, and fill the entirety of ArcelorMittal's pellet purchase requirements from the previous contracts.

The new commercial agreement includes ArcelorMittal's total purchases of iron ore pellets from Cliffs up to 10 million long tons and will preserve Cliffs' current position as ArcelorMittal USA's sole outside supplier of pellets.

Accordingly, Cliffs will continue to be the sole pellet supplier of ArcelorMittal's Indiana Harbor West and Cleveland Works steelmaking facilities, while maintaining the current level of pellet supply to ArcelorMittal's Indiana Harbor East facility.

The new contract also establishes a minimum tonnage of pellets of 7 million long tons, which is higher than the current minimum level from the two previous contracts combined.

Based on current market levels, Cliffs said it anticipates an improvement in overall U.S iron ore realized revenues per ton in 2017, when compared to the company's current guidance for 2016.