IRON SUPPLY NEWS Wabush Pellets Bound for China

NEWFOUNDLAND Demand for steel is rising in China and will be met in part by pellets from WABUSH MINES' Scully iron ore mine in Labrador. The mine is operated by Cliffs Mining Co., a subsidiary of American-owned CLEVELAND-CLIFFS, which holds 26.8% of the project. The balance is held by Canadian companies STELCO (44.6%) and DOFASCO (28.6%).

Chinese steel demand has been spurred by state-owned LAIWU STEEL GROUP, which will complete the expansion of its plant to 10 million tons/year by 2006, from its current 5.2 million tons/year capacity. Laiwu signed a 10-year supply contract with UNITED TACONITE of Minnesota. United Taconite is the former Evtac Mining Co., which was bought out of bankruptcy by Laiwu (30%) and Cleveland-Cliffs (70%). In a deal to trade Minnesota taconite for pellets from Newfoundland, the owners take advantage of lower transportation costs by shipping the Wabush pellets to China.

More information about Wabush Mines is available at www.stelco.com under "Stelco Group of Businesses" and at www.cleveland-cliffs.com under "Mining Operations and Technology".