China’s the 21st Century Business Herald reported on Wednesday that Australian iron ore miner Rio Tinto Ltd has asked Korean and Japanese steel mills for a 40 per cent increase in 2010 benchmark prices.
The prices to Korea and Japan are widely seen to act as a guide to the price to be demanded from Chinese steel mills for iron ore.
"When this year's iron ore price talks started, Japanese and Korean steel mills agreed to a higher benchmark price for this year, so the key issue now becomes how much the price hike will be," the report said, citing a mining source close to both Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton Ltd.
Rio Tinto refused to comment on the story.
Baosteel Group Corp. representing Chinese steel mills are also said to be holding price talks with the three global miners according to the report, which also speculated that Baosteel is ready to agree in principal to the price rise.
However Chinese steel mills are said to be unlikely to accept a rise of 30 per cent over 2009 levels and are looking at an increase of around 20-30 per cent.
According to an Australian mining source Japanese and Korean steel mills may be willing to accept a 40% rise this year although they haven't formally done so.
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