CHINESE steelmakers expect pricing talks with major global iron ore suppliers to continue, reports said yesterday, after the two sides failed to reach agreement by a June 30 deadline.

China’s steel industry group has rejected iron ore price agreements negotiated between Australian mining giant Rio Tinto and Japanese and South Korean mills.

An official at the China Iron and Steel Association refused comment, saying any news would be posted on the group’s Web site.

However, Xinhua News Agency quoted CISA official Chen Xianwen, as saying that the talks would persist.

Rio Tinto Ltd., the world’s third-biggest miner, agreed with Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. last month to cut its iron ore prices by about one-third. The Chinese side had been seeking cuts of more than 40 percent, but might soften its stance and settle on cuts somewhere between 33 percent and 40 percent below last year’s prices, the Shanghai Securities News reported.

With the pricing deadline passed, iron ore miners have the right to dissolve current contracts and sell iron ore at spot prices. Those are now higher than the benchmark price, but more volatile.

It was unclear if spot prices are being used for sales to China’s big steel mills now that the June 30 negotiating deadline has passed.

(SD-Agencies)