Simon Casey
RTGAM






Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., the largest U.S. producer of iron ore, will stop paying a dividend as it tries to cut its borrowings amid a slump in the price of the steel making raw material.

The Cleveland-based company was previously paying shareholders 15 cents a share each quarter. The elimination of the dividend will give Cliffs $92-million a year of extra free cash to use to pay down debt, it said in a statement Monday.

Cliffs also said it cut its net debt by more than $400-million in the fourth quarter.

"We see accelerated debt reduction as a more effective means of protecting our shareholders than continuing to pay a common share dividend" Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lourenco Goncalves said in the statement.