Dow Jones quoted Chinese steel industry officials said they have not reached a decision on a response to Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto Plc's iron ore price deal with Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. Mr Zou Jian an executive director at the China Iron and Steel Association said "There's a possibility that we will persist with our request for price cuts of 40% to 45% but whether or not that will happen, I can not tell you now."
Mr Shan Shanghua the association's secretary-general said that CISA is still studying the issue and had not reached a conclusion yet. Mr Ding Shouhu chief negotiator for Baosteel Group Corp said he needed to confirm terms of the Rio-Nippon deal before commenting. He declined to confirm if China would still stick to its demands from miners for a 40% to 45% price cut.
The deal that saw 2009-10 iron ore prices cut between 33% and 44%, threatens to undermine China's demand for deeper cuts and its position as benchmark setter for Asian term prices.
