NOTE 3 – DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES

The following table presents the fair value of our derivative instruments and the classification of each in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Position as of March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011:

Derivatives Designated as Hedging Instruments

Cash Flow Hedges

Australian and Canadian Dollar Foreign Exchange Contracts

We are subject to changes in foreign currency exchange rates as a result of our operations in Australia and Canada. With respect to Australia, foreign exchange risk arises from our exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates because the functional currency of our Asia Pacific operations is the Australian dollar. Our Asia Pacific operations receive funds in U.S. currency for their iron ore and coal sales. The functional currency of our Canadian operations is the U.S. dollar; however the production costs for these operations primarily are incurred in the Canadian dollar.

We use foreign currency exchange derivatives to hedge our foreign currency exposure for a portion of our Australian dollar sales receipts and our Canadian dollar operating costs. For our Australian operations, U.S. currency is converted to Australian dollars at the currency exchange rate in effect during the period the transaction occurred. For our Canadian operations, U.S. dollars are converted to Canadian dollars at the exchange rate in effect for the period the operating costs are incurred. The primary objective for the use of these instruments is to reduce exposure to changes in Australian and U.S. currency exchange rates and Canadian and U.S. currency exchange rates, respectively, and to protect against undue adverse movement in these exchange rates. These instruments are subject to formal documentation, intended to achieve qualifying hedge treatment, and are tested for effectiveness at inception and at least once each reporting period. During the third quarter of 2011, we implemented a global foreign exchange hedging policy to apply to all of our operating segments and our consolidated subsidiaries that engage in foreign exchange risk mitigation. The policy allows for hedging of 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, occurring only during the fourth quarter of each year, of forecasted net currency exposures that are probable to occur. If and when any of our hedge contracts are determined not to be highly effective as hedges, the underlying hedged transaction is no longer likely to occur, or the derivative is terminated, hedge accounting is discontinued.

As of March 31, 2012, we had outstanding Australian and Canadian foreign currency exchange contracts with notional amounts of $425.0 million and $518.4 million, respectively, in the form of forward contracts with varying maturity dates ranging from April 2012 to March 2013. This compares with outstanding Australian foreign currency exchange contracts with a notional amount of $400.0 million as of December 31, 2011. There were no outstanding Canadian foreign currency exchange contracts as of December 31, 2011, as we did not begin entering into Canadian foreign exchange contracts until January 2012.

Changes in fair value of highly effective hedges are recorded as a component of Accumulated other comprehensive loss in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Position. Unrealized gains of $3.0 million and $0.7 million, respectively, were recorded as of March 31, 2012 related to these Australian and Canadian hedge contracts, based on the Australian to U.S. dollar spot rate of 1.03 and the U.S. dollar to Canadian spot rate of 1.00, respectively, as of March 31, 2012. Unrealized gains of $1.9 million were recorded as of March 31, 2011 related to the Australian dollar hedge contracts, based on the Australian to U.S. dollar spot rate of 1.03 at March 31, 2011. Any ineffectiveness is recognized immediately in income and as of March 31, 2012 and 2011, there was no ineffectiveness recorded for these foreign exchange contracts. Amounts recorded as a component of Accumulated other comprehensive loss are reclassified into earnings in the same period the forecasted transaction affects earnings. For the three months ended March 31, 2012, we recorded realized gains of $3.1 million and $0.5 million for these Australian and Canadian hedge contracts, respectively. Of the amounts remaining in Accumulated other comprehensive loss related to Australian hedge contracts and Canadian hedge contracts, we estimate that $4.3 million and $0.7 million, respectively, will be reclassified into earnings within the next 12 months.

The following summarizes the effect of our derivatives designated as hedging instruments in Accumulated other comprehensive loss and the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011:

Derivatives Not Designated as Hedging Instruments

Australian Dollar Foreign Exchange Contracts

Effective July 1, 2008, we discontinued hedge accounting for foreign exchange contracts entered into for all outstanding contracts at the time and continued to hold such instruments as economic hedges to manage currency risk as described above. The outstanding non-designated foreign exchange contracts with a notional amount of $15.0 million as of December 31, 2011, matured as of January 2012.

As a result of discontinuing hedge accounting, the instruments were marked to fair value each reporting period through Changes in fair value of foreign currency contracts, net in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations. For the three months ended March 31, 2012, the change in fair value of the foreign currency contracts resulted in a net gain of $0.3 million based on the Australian to U.S. dollar spot rate change until maturity. This compares with the net gain of $4.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2011 based on the Australian to U.S. dollar spot rate of 1.03 at March 31, 2011. The amounts that previously were recorded as a component of Accumulated other comprehensive loss were reclassified to earnings with a corresponding realized gain or loss recognized in the same period the forecasted transaction affected earnings.

Canadian Dollar Foreign Exchange Contracts and Options

On January 11, 2011, we entered into a definitive agreement with Consolidated Thompson to acquire all of its common shares in an all-cash transaction, including net debt. We hedged a portion of the purchase price on the open market by entering into foreign currency exchange forward contracts and an option contract with a combined notional amount of C$4.7 billion. The hedge contracts were considered economic hedges, which do not qualify for hedge accounting. The forward contracts had various maturity dates and the option contract had a maturity date of April 14, 2011.

During the first quarter of 2011, a swap was executed in order to extend the maturity dates of certain of the forward contracts through the consummation of the Consolidated Thompson acquisition and the repayment of the Consolidated Thompson convertible debentures. The swap and the maturity of the forward contracts resulted in net realized gains of $28.1 million recognized through Changes in fair value of foreign currency contracts, net in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2011. For the three months ended March 31, 2011, the change in fair value of these contracts and option resulted in net unrealized gains of $23.5 million based on the Canadian to U.S. dollar spot rate of 1.03 as of March 31, 2011.

Customer Supply Agreements

Most of our U.S. Iron Ore long-term supply agreements are comprised of a base price with annual price adjustment factors, some of which are subject to annual price collars in order to limit the percentage increase or decrease in prices for our iron ore pellets during any given year. The price adjustment factors vary based on the agreement but typically include adjustments based upon changes in international pellet prices and changes in specified Producers Price indices including those for all commodities, industrial commodities, energy and steel. The adjustments generally operate in the same manner, with each factor typically comprising a portion of the price adjustment, although the weighting of each factor varies based upon the specific terms of each agreement. The price adjustment factors have been evaluated to determine if they contain embedded derivatives. The price adjustment factors share the same economic characteristics and risks as the host contract and are integral to the host contract as inflation adjustments; accordingly, they have not been separately valued as derivative instruments.

Certain supply agreements with one U.S. Iron Ore customer provide for supplemental revenue or refunds to the customer based on the customer's average annual steel pricing at the time the product is consumed in the customer's blast furnace. The supplemental pricing is characterized as a freestanding derivative and is required to be accounted for separately once the product is shipped. The derivative instrument, which is finalized based on a future price, is adjusted to fair value as a revenue adjustment each reporting period until the pellets are consumed and the amounts are settled. We recognized $39.2 million and $24.6 million as Product revenues in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively, related to the supplemental payments. Derivative assets, representing the fair value of the pricing factors, were $65.1 million and $72.9 million, respectively, in the March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011 Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Position.

Provisional Pricing Arrangements

Certain of our U.S. Iron Ore, Eastern Canadian Iron Ore and Asia Pacific Iron Ore customer supply agreements specify provisional price calculations, where the pricing mechanisms are generally based on market pricing, with the final sales price to be based on market inputs at a specified point in time in the future, per the terms of the supply agreements. The difference between the provisionally agreed-upon price and the estimated final sales price is characterized as a derivative and is required to be accounted for separately once the revenue has been recognized. The derivative instrument is adjusted to fair value through Product revenues each reporting period based upon current market data and forward-looking estimates provided by management until the final sales price is determined. We have recorded $4.1 million as current Derivative assets and $1.1 million as derivative liabilities, included in Other current liabilities in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Position at March 31, 2012 related to our estimate of final sales price with our U.S. Iron Ore, Eastern Canadian Iron Ore and Asia Pacific Iron Ore customers. At December 31, 2011, we did not have any derivative assets or liabilities recorded due to these arrangements. These amounts represent the difference between the provisional price agreed upon with our customers based on the supply agreement terms and our estimate of the final sales price based on the price calculations established in the supply agreements. As a result, we recognized a net $3.0 million increase in Product revenues in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2012 related to these arrangements. There were no amounts recognized related to these arrangements for the three months ended March 31, 2011.

In some instances we are still working to revise components of the pricing calculations referenced within our supply agreements to incorporate new market inputs to the pricing mechanisms as a result of the elimination of historical benchmark pricing. As a result, we record certain shipments made to our U.S. Iron Ore and Eastern Canadian Iron Ore customers based on an agreed-upon provisional price with the customer until final settlement on the market inputs to the pricing mechanisms are finalized. The lack of agreed-upon market inputs results in these pricing provisions being characterized as derivatives. The derivative instrument, which is settled and billed or credited once the determinations of the market inputs to the pricing mechanisms are finalized, is adjusted to fair value through Product revenues each reporting period based upon current market data and forward-looking estimates determined by management. During the three months ended March 31, 2012, we had no shipments to customers under supply agreements in which components of the pricing calculations are still being finalized. We recognized $20.0 million as an increase in Product revenues in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2011 under these pricing provisions for certain shipments to our U.S. Iron Ore and Eastern Canadian Iron Ore customers. At March 31, 2012, we had no Derivative assets, derivative liabilities included in Other current liabilities or Accounts receivable in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Position recorded related to these arrangements. At December 31, 2011, we recorded $1.2 million Derivative assets, $19.5 million derivative liabilities included in Other current liabilities and $83.8 million Accounts receivable in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Position recorded related to these arrangements.

The following summarizes the effect of our derivatives that are not designated as hedging instruments in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011:

Refer to NOTE 8 – FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS for additional information.