Cliffs revenues up for the year

Cliffs Natural Resources’ revenue for the three-month period ending June 30 was up 203 percent over the same period last year, the company reported last week.

The company had a record $1.18 billion in revenue in the second quarter of this year, compared to $390.3 million in the same quarter last year.

“The increase was driven by higher sales volume and pricing in each of Cliffs’ business segments, reflecting an improvement in demand for steelmaking raw materials from the comparable quarter in 2009,” a news release from the company said.

Second-quarter 2010 net income increased to $260.7 million, or $1.92 per diluted share, from $45.5 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2009.

Last summer Northshore closed for three months because of a lack of demand for ore pellets. Over the winter, Northshore began hiring again as demand rose and it hasn’t stopped in both the Silver Bay and Babbitt plants.

There are 400 employees at the Silver Bay plant.

The regional operations have been helped by Mesabi Nugget, which began producing in January and continues to buy concentrated ore from Silver Bay.

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