Cleveland, Ohio-based miner Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., which recently announced cutbacks in iron ore pellet production, said Thursday that it expects the US' economic recession to extend through at least next year, though it still believes in the long-term growth potential of the steel industry.
"What you are seeing is nervousness in this economy and a reaction by customers to cuts in the steel industry," the miner's chairman, president and CEO Joseph Carrabba told Wall Street analysts on a conference call. "Our view is that the recession will hold longer because the (high) inventory is not just in the steel industry but the housing and auto industries too. We think there will be a long and protracted recession through 2009."
Mr. Carrabba said that the company does not regret its pending acquisition of coal miner Alpha Natural Resources, as the company is still confident in the long-term growth for steel. "We have not changed our view of the growth of the steel industry," he said. "We believe a super-cycle is here and we are just in a hiccup at the moment."