Cleveland, Ohio-based Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. reported Tuesday that for the full year 2012, Cliffs recorded a net loss attributable to Cliffs' common shareholders of $899 million, or $6.32 per diluted share, compared with net income of $1.6 billion, or $11.48 per diluted share, in 2011 as revenues of $5.9 billion decreased $691 million, or 11 percent, from the previous year. The lower revenues were driven by a 23 percent decrease in year-over-year seaborne iron ore pricing.
Consolidated sales margin decreased 50 percent in Q4 to $239 million, from $480 million in the same quarter last year. This was attributed to slightly lower revenues of $1.5 billion, driven by a 14 percent decrease in fourth-quarter year-over-year seaborne pricing, and a 15 percent increase in cost of goods sold to $1.3 billion, primarily driven by increased sales volumes, which contributed to higher employment-related costs, mining and maintenance expenses.
For Q4 2012, Cliffs recorded a net loss attributable to Cliffs' common shareholders of $1.6 billion, or $11.36 per diluted share, compared with net income of $185 million, or $1.30 per diluted share, in Q4 2011. Q4 2012 US iron ore pellet sales volume was 6.2 million tons, compared with 7.8 million tons in Q4 2011. The decrease was driven by lower volumes to a customer due to its bankruptcy earlier in the year and a lower year-over-year demand for iron ore pellets.
US iron ore Q4 2012 revenues per ton were $112.06, down 7 percent from $120.37 in the year-ago quarter. Q4 Eastern Canadian iron ore sales volume was 2.3 million tons, a 20 percent increase from the 1.9 million tons sold in Q4 2011. Q4 Asia Pacific Iron Ore sales volume increased 56 percent to 2.8 million tons, from 1.8 million tons in Q4 2011.
For Q4 2012, North American Coal sales volume was 1.9 million tons, a 94 percent increase from the 988,000 tons sold in the prior year's comparable quarter. The increase was due to significantly higher sales volume from Cliffs' low-volatile metallurgical coal mines, which achieved meaningfully higher year-over-year production rates, and increased sales to customers in Asia.
For 2013, Cliffs anticipates the end markets for its products to remain healthy, primarily driven by China's continued demand for steelmaking raw materials. Cliffs expects its global iron ore sales to be relatively flat year over year at approximately 40 million tons. While the recent iron ore spot price reached $159 per ton, a new 12-month high, the company expects pricing for the commodities it sells to remain volatile.
