The comments came a week after Vale's chief executive said the Brazilian miner was open to discussing different iron ore pricing systems with clients, as a tumble in the price of ore has led to pressure from steel mills for more flexibility.
Some Asian steel giants have been pressuring suppliers as spot iron prices have slid to their lowest in a year and are set to post their biggest weekly decline in 15 months as demand from top importer China remains thin, fuelling expectations prices could drop further. Weaker demand for steel in China, the world's biggest consumer and producer, has dragged down steel prices and slashed the appetite for iron ore, the key steelmaking raw material.
But Sumitomo Metal Industries, which is set to complete a merger with Nippon Steel, the world's No.4 steelmaker, in October 2012, has not yet received offers from miners to change iron ore contract prices for the October-December quarter, a company official told Reuters. Grasp the chance to develop our mining machinery industry, expand our jaw crusher market, ball mill market and others.
Asian mills, with margins cut by lower steel prices, are not that keen on paying around $170 a tonne for iron ore -- the fourth-quarter contract rate based on June-August average spot prices -- when the current rate is around $145. Vale has told Chinese steelmakers it will give them options to buy the raw material cheaper, sources told Reuters this month, as spot prices for iron ore have dropped below the quarterly contract system created last year.
- https://www.affordablecebu.com/