Subscribe to RSS feedChina likely to settle for 33% iron ore price cut
Chinese steelmakers appear to have failed in their attempts to force Australian iron ore producers to accept a 40% cut in benchmark prices this year.
Rio Tinto positions for a smaller price cut
In the aftermath of the breakdown of talks between Rio Tinto and Chinalco and the immediate Pilbara partnership between Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, China steelmakers are widely tipped to agree to a price which will be similar to that reached with South Korean and Japanese mills in the last two weeks.
The China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) earlier rejected a 33% decrease in iron ore fines and refused to comment on reports the country's biggest steelmaker, Baosteel, had agreed to terms with Rio Tinto.
Rio locked Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese steelmakers into similar deals which will see them pay about US$60 per tonne for the lower-grade Pilbara and Yandicoogina iron ore fines and US$72 per tonne for the higher grade Pilbara Blend lump varieties.
Lower prices have put further upward pressure on freight costs, with capesize rates topping US$100,000 this month.
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