South Korea's Posco (005490.SE) said Tuesday that it is yet to finish talks with three major iron ore suppliers to finalize contract prices for the year starting April.

"The iron ore talks for this year are not over yet," Kim Dong-ho, a company spokesman, said by phone, without giving further details.

The three suppliers are - BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU), Rio Tinto Ltd. (RIO.AU) and Brazilian mining giant Vale S.A. (VALE).

Y.T. Kwon, senior executive vice president of Posco's raw material procurement department, had said in April that the company asked suppliers to cut iron ore prices by 50%.

Rio Tinto Tuesday said it has struck a deal with Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. (5401.TO) for a 33% to 44% drop in iron ore term prices for the 2009-10 contract year that started April 1.

-By Kyong-Ae Choi, Dow Jones Newswires; 822-2198-2236; kyong-ae.choi@dowjones.com