WINNER: Energy, Resources and Clean Technology
Since opening its first iron ore mine in the upper peninsula of Michigan in 1850, Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. has remained in the vanguard of the steelmaking industry, successfully adapting operations to major changes that drove many competitors out of business.
In recent years, Cliffs Natural Resources, an international mining and natural resources company, has focused strategic efforts on seaborne markets and the high global demand for steelmaking raw materials. This has been under the stewardship of Joseph Carrabba, chairman, president and CEO of Cliffs Natural Resources.
Carrabba has led Cliffs to change its business model by diversifying into other end-markets and other steel-related minerals, expanding geographically into low-political-risk geographies, and emphasizing cash-flow positive, profitable, commercial-stage businesses.
In less than six years, Carrabba has transformed the company. A member of the S&P 500 Index, Cliffs is a major global iron ore producer and a significant producer of high- and low-volatile metallurgical coal. Cliffs’ strategy is to continually achieve greater scale and diversification in the mining industry through a focus on serving the world’s largest and fastest growing steel markets. It has been through Carrabba’s leadership that the business has been driven by the core values of social, environmental and capital stewardship.
Over the recent years, Carrabba and his management team have focused on four strategic imperatives for Cliffs: operational excellence, building scale, global execution and shareholder returns.
Since establishing these imperatives, the company has been primarily focused on building scale through various M&A transactions, diversified its revenue stream and customer base, and established an opportunistic project pipeline. With these accomplishments, Carrabba has shifted the company’s focus more toward global execution and shareholder returns in 2012.
How to reach: Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., www.cliffsnaturalresources.com.
