The Financial Times that iron ore miners are hoping to delay any agreement in annual negotiations with steelmakers, until as late as this summer. hoping for an improvement in demand and prices. The report cited unnamed senior executives involved in the talks.
Annual iron-ore benchmark prices for the year beginning April 1, are still expected to fall, but by waiting longer than normal they hope to avoid a large cut.
Negotiations between the world’s top producers – Brazil’s Vale, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, and steel mills led by Baosteel of China - traditionally settle between March and April, but executives in London, Sao Paulo and Shanghai said they were in no rush to settle.
However, the miners concede that a drop in negotiated prices looks unavoidable.
“The longer the spot price implies a drop in annual benchmark prices, the more difficult it will be to avoid a cut,” one of the executives was quoted as saying.
Source: Financial Times
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