Australia's Fortescue Metals Group will temporarily use iron prices set by rival Rio Tinto until an industry-wide price that includes settlements by BHP Billiton is formalised, Fortescue said on Thursday.
Fortescue said it was unable to conclude its benchmark reference price since BHP had yet to agree a price with customers for the current trading year.
In the meantime, it will invoice its customers at the Rio-set price, the company said.
Steel mills across Asia followed their peers in China in bowing to a near doubling in iron ore prices from Rio Tinto this year, leaving BHP Billiton the lone hold-out for higher rates as annual talks go into overtime.
Rio Tinto said on Tuesday all its Asian customers had now agreed to an up-to 96.5 percent price hike for ore delivered between April 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009.
That deal was a significant improvement on the first round of price rises agreed by Brazil's Vale at 65-71 percent back in February.
BHP has refused to comment while it is still in negotiations with Baosteel of China and other Asian mills like Nippon Steel Corp and South Korea's POSCO.
BHP's refusal to pre-set the price of its ore has raised the ire of customers already fuming over its plans to acquire Rio and create a super mining house with even more sway over the supply of raw materials.
Fortescue in May made its first shipment of iron ore from west Australia's Pilbara iron belt bound for China. This year it expects to ship around 55 million tonnes of ore, all to China.
Source: Reuters
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