Bridgestone/Firestone Off Road Tire Co. Named Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. Supplier of the Year Steel industry’s leading supplier of iron ore products selects off road tire group and distributors for three annual awards NASHVILLE, Tenn. (July 26, 2002) - In a recent awards ceremony, Bridgestone/Firestone Off Road Tire Co. (BFOR), a division of Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC, received its second consecutive “Supplier of the Year” award from Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc, the leading supplier of high-quality iron ore products to the North American steel industry. Cleveland-Cliffs selected Bridgestone/Firestone for this award from among the several hundred companies with which the company does business annually. “We are proud to receive this high honor from such a well-respected and well-established company,” said BFOR President Manny Cicero. “This customer recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all BFOR employees.” The Cleveland-Cliffs Supplier of the Year award recognizes suppliers and distributors for their exceptional performance as alliance suppliers to the company’s managed mines. The award measures performance in the areas of quality, service, technology and cost over a period of one year. Bridgestone/Firestone distributors Northern Tire and Tufco Tire were also recognized for excellence, awarding BFOR and its distributors a total of three of the seven supplier awards given in 2002. In a letter to Bridgestone/Firestone announcing this honor, Gerald Kohanski, general manager of the materials and energy division for Cleveland-Cliffs, said, “We believe Bridgestone/Firestone’s recognition for three of our seven awards in 2002 reflects the impressive quality and standards of the entire OTR division. The company has certainly earned this honor.” The Cleveland-Cliffs award is the most recent in a long list of honors awarded to Bridgestone/Firestone, including the coveted Shingo award, which promotes world-class manufacturing and recognizes companies that achieve superior customer satisfaction and business results. This year, Bridgestone/Firestone was named a General Motors Supplier of the Year for the seventh consecutive year, earned Honda’s Environmental Recognition Award for the second consecutive year and last month was named Peter Kiewit Sons’ Manufacturer of the Year. Bridgestone/Firestone Off-Road Tire Co. is a division of Nashville-based Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC. BFNT is a subsidiary of Bridgestone/Firestone Americas Holding, Inc., whose parent company, Bridgestone Corporation, is the world’s largest tire and rubber company. BFNT develops, manufactures and markets Bridgestone, Firestone, Dayton and associate and private brand tires. The company is focused on wholesale and original equipment markets, supplying passenger, light truck, commercial vehicle, off-road, agriculture and other tires to its customers in the Americas. Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest supplier of iron ore products to the North American steel industry and is developing a significant ferrous metallics business. Subsidiaries of the Company manage and hold equity interests in iron ore mines in Michigan, Minnesota and Eastern Canada. Cliffs has a major iron ore reserve position in the United States and is a substantial iron ore merchant.