Posco: Talks With Iron Ore Suppliers Not Over Yet
May 26 2009 - 1:55AM
Dow Jones News
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