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CISA: Australia's FMG cuts iron ore prices

By Zhang Qi and Yu Hongyan (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-08-17 10:44

China's Baosteel, China's largest steel maker negotiating on behalf of the country's steel makers, has struck a deal on iron ore import prices with Australia's third largest miner, FMG, the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) announced Monday.

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FMG agreed to supply iron ore at a unified price, meaning all Chinese smelters will be able to purchase a certain kind of iron ore at the same price.

Fine ores will be sold at 94 cents per dry metric ton unit, down 35.02 percent from the price last year. Lump ores will be sold at 100 cents per dry metric ton unit, down 50.42 percent from last year's price. These are all "free on board" prices.

The contract will last from July 1 to Dec 31, 2009.

CISA also said that all future iron ore pricing deals will be made on a unified price basis, and will last from Jan 1 to Dec 31 each year. CISA also said that it hopes to reach similar deals with the world's top three miners.

FMG's annual output capacity is 50 million tons - one tenth of China's total demand, which is roughly 500 million tons, according to CISA.