NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) - Get Reportare sliding, down 7.71% to $4.19 in afternoon trading Wednesday, after Australia, the world's largest exporter of iron ore, cut its outlook for 2015 prices amid a global supply surplus, Bloomberg reports.

The Department of Industry and Science said rates will average about $60 a metric ton this year, compared to its $63 forecast from December, and lower compared to $88 in 2014, according to Bloomberg.

Iron ore prices have nearly halved in 2014, and is continuing to decline this year due to low-cost supply from Australia and Brazil combined with the slowing demand in China, Bloomberg added.

Yesterday, shares of Cliffs Natural Resources fell following a warning by analysts at Citigroup that global commodity markets will see slower and less synchronized demand growth in China.

The firm said that iron ore is among the commodities hardest hit by China's slowdown, and will likely slow further in 2015.

Cleveland, OH-based Cliffs Natural Resources is an international mining and natural resources company.

The company is an iron ore producer and a producer of metallurgical coal with its operations organized according to product category and geographic location.

In the U.S., Cliffs operates five iron ore mines in Michigan and Minnesota, five metallurgical coal mines located in West Virginia and Alabama and one thermal coal mine located in West Virginia.

Insight from TheStreet's Research Team:

Bob Byrne commented on Cliffs Natural Resources in a recent post on RealMoney.com. Here is what Byrne had to say about the stock:

In the world of bottom-fishing stocks, few names have hurt traders worse than those in the coal and iron-ore sectors. I received several questions regarding Peabody Energy(BTU) and Cliffs Natural Resources(CLF) on Thursday, and while I tried to keep open mind, I just can't find a single reason to buy either stock. It doesn't matter whether you're looking at BTU,Alpha Natural Resources (ANR), Cloud Peak Energy (CLD) or Walter Energy (WLT).

From a technical perspective, they're all pretty much the same. Ugly! They should all be avoided. And as far as CLF is concerned, there's little to do there until iron ore futures begin to stabilize. For the record, iron ore futures were printing new multi-year lows on Wednesday. Like anything in the coal sector, CLF should be avoided.

-Bob Byrne, 'The Trade Daily' originally published 3/13/2015 on RealMoney.com.

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Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates CLIFFS NATURAL RESOURCES INC as a Sell with a ratings score of D-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate CLIFFS NATURAL RESOURCES INC (CLF) a SELL. This is driven by several weaknesses, which we believe should have a greater impact than any strengths, and could make it more difficult for investors to achieve positive results compared to most of the stocks we cover. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its deteriorating net income, weak operating cash flow, generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself and feeble growth in its earnings per share." You can view the full analysis from the report here: CLF Ratings Report