Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Consolidation

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include our accounts and the accounts of our wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries, including the following operations:



Name	Location	Ownership Interest	Operation	Status of Operations
Northshore	Minnesota	100.0%	Iron Ore	Active
United Taconite	Minnesota	100.0%	Iron Ore	Active
Tilden	Michigan	85.0%	Iron Ore	Active
Empire	Michigan	79.0%	Iron Ore	Active
Koolyanobbing	Western Australia	100.0%	Iron Ore	Active
Pinnacle	West Virginia	100.0%	Coal	Active - Held for Sale
Oak Grove	Alabama	100.0%	Coal	Active - Held for Sale
Wabush¹	Newfoundland and Labrador/ Quebec, Canada	100.0%	Iron Ore	Permanent closure
Bloom Lake¹	Quebec, Canada	82.8%	Iron Ore	Care-and-maintenance
Cliffs Chromite Ontario - Black Label Deposit¹	Ontario, Canada	100.0%	Chromite	Suspended
Cliffs Chromite Ontario - Black Thor Deposit¹	Ontario, Canada	100.0%	Chromite	Suspended
Cliffs Chromite Ontario & Cliffs Chromite Far North - Big Daddy Deposit¹	Ontario, Canada	70.0%	Chromite	Suspended
¹ As of January 27, 2015, we deconsolidated substantially all of our Canadian operations following the CCAA filing. See NOTE 14 - DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS for further information.

Intercompany transactions and balances are eliminated upon consolidation.

Equity Method Investments

Investments in unconsolidated ventures that we have the ability to exercise significant influence over, but not control, are accounted for under the equity method. The following table presents the detail of our investments in unconsolidated ventures and where those investments are classified in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Position as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014. Parentheses indicate a net liability.



				(In Millions)
Investment	Classification	Accounting Method	Interest Percentage	March 31, 2015		December 31, 2014
Hibbing	Other non-current assets	Equity Method	23%	$	2.5	$	3.1
Other	Other non-current assets	Equity Method	Various	0.9		1.0
				$	3.4	$	4.1

Foreign Currency Transactions and Translations Policy [Policy Text Block]

Foreign Currency

Our financial statements are prepared with the U.S. dollar as the reporting currency. The functional currency of the Company’s Australian subsidiaries is the Australian dollar. The functional currency of all other international subsidiaries is the U.S. dollar. The financial statements of international subsidiaries are translated into U.S. dollars using the exchange rate at each balance sheet date for assets and liabilities and a weighted average exchange rate for each period for revenues, expenses, gains and losses. Where the local currency is the functional currency, translation adjustments are recorded as Accumulated other comprehensive loss. Income taxes generally are not provided for foreign currency translation adjustments. To the extent that monetary assets and liabilities, inclusive of intercompany notes, are recorded in a currency other than the functional currency, these amounts are remeasured each reporting period, with the resulting gain or loss being recorded in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations. Transaction gains and losses resulting from remeasurement of short-term intercompany loans are included in Miscellaneous - net in our Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations. For the three months ended March 31, 2015, net gains of $13.5 million related to the impact of transaction gains and losses resulting from remeasurement. Of these transaction gains and losses, for the three months ended March 31, 2015, gains of $12.4 million and gains of $1.5 million, respectively, resulted from remeasurement of short-term intercompany loans and cash and cash equivalents. For the three months ended March 31, 2014, losses of $11.4 million related to the impact of transaction gains and losses resulting from remeasurement, of which included losses of $8.8 million and losses of $3.1 million, respectively, resulted from remeasurement of short-term intercompany loans and cash and cash equivalents.

Derivatives, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Derivative Financial Instruments and Hedging Activities

According to our global hedge policy, the policy allows for hedging not more than 75 percent, but not less than 40 percent for up to 12 months and not less than 10 percent for up to 15 months, of forecasted net currency exposures that are probable to occur. Full hedge compliance under the policy has been waived through December 31, 2015. The waiver was a result of the evaluation of the potential risk of being over hedged and the uncertainty of the 2015 currency exposures. During 2015, we have not entered into any new foreign currency exchange contracts to hedge our foreign currency exposure and we do not expect to enter into any during the remainder of 2015. In the future, we may enter into additional hedging instruments as needed in order to further hedge our exposure to changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Issued and Not Effective

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-03, Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs, which requires that debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt liability, consistent with debt discounts. This ASU requires retrospective adoption and will be effective for us beginning in our first quarter of 2016. Early adoption is permitted. We do not expect this adoption to have an impact on our Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations or Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Cash Flows. The impact of the adoption of the guidance will result in reclassification of the unamortized debt issuance costs on the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Position, which were $46.2 million and $25.6 million at March 31, 2015 and December, 31, 2014, respectively.

- Definition

Disclosure of accounting policy for subsidiaries or other investments that are consolidated, including the accounting treatment for intercompany accounts or transactions and any noncontrolling interest.

+ References + Details

- Definition

Disclosure of accounting policy for its derivative instruments and hedging activities.

+ References + Details

- Definition

Disclosure of accounting policy for the equity method of accounting for investments in common stock or other interests including unconsolidated subsidiaries, corporate joint ventures, noncontrolling interests in real estate ventures, limited partnerships, and limited liability companies. The accounting policy may include information such as: (1) initially recording an investment in the stock of an investee at cost; (2) adjusting the carrying amount of the investment to recognize the investor's share of the earnings or losses of the investee after the date of acquisition; and (3) adjustments to reflect the investor's share of changes in the investee's capital (dividends). This disclosure may also include a detailed description of the policy for determining the amount of equity method losses recognized after an investment has been reduced to zero as a result of previous losses, reasons for not using the equity method when the investor company owns 20 percent or more of the voting stock of the investee's company (including identification of the significant investee), reasons for using the equity method when the ownership percentage is less than 20 percent, and discussion of recognition of equity method losses when an investor's total investment in an investee includes, in addition to an investment in common stock, other investments such as preferred stock and loans to the investee. An entity also may describe how such investments are assessed for impairment.

+ References + Details