BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), the world's largest exporter of coking coal, has agreed to accept a discount of around 61 percent for the steel-making raw material after talks with Japan's Nippon Steel, Citigroup said in a research report.
BMA has agreed on a price of between $115-$125 a tonne for Japan's fiscal 2009/10 year, compared with the previous year's about $300 a tonne.
The price deal, the first between the Australian miner and a key Japanese steelmaking customer, could set a benchmark for other negotiations for contracts for the April to March Japanese fiscal year.
"We believe this settlement contains no carry-over tonnes, a much discussed sticking point of the negotiations," Citi's analyst Alan Heap said in a research report issued on Thursday.
Citi did not give details on how it knows of the settlement price.
Source: Reuters
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