Cliffs Natural Resources said Thursday that revenues fell 26 percent in Q3 to $1.5 billion, primarily driven by a 36 percent decrease in year-over-year pricing for seaborne iron ore. Net income attributable to Cliffs' common shareholders was $85 million, down from $601 million in Q3 2011. Primarily driven by lower pricing, the company has reduced its anticipated full-year income from continuing operations.
Q3 2012 US iron ore pellet sales volume fell to 6.6 million tons, compared with 7.9 million tons in Q3 2011. The decrease was attributed to a lower demand for iron ore pellets and timing of vessel shipments. US iron ore Q3 2012 revenues per ton were $110.51, down 20 percent from $137.90 in the year-ago quarter.
Q3 2012 Eastern Canadian iron ore sales volume was 2.4 million tons, a 24 percent decrease from the 3.1 million tons sold in the third quarter of 2011. Q3 Asia Pacific iron ore sales volume increased 28 percent to 3 million tons from 2.4 million tons in Q3 2011. For Q3 2012, North American Coal sales volume was 1.7 million tons, a 157 percent increase from the 646,000 tons sold in the prior year's comparable quarter.
Looking forward, Cliffs expects the US economy to remain stable for the remainder of the year. The company anticipates moderate volatility in the pricing for seaborne iron ore and metallurgical coal products, driven by Asian and European end markets. Based on recent destocking activity within China's steel industry and the recent decline in its annualized crude steel production, Cliffs is lowering its full-year expectation for Chinese crude steel production to approximately 715 million tons, from its previous expectation of 730 million tons.