Vale in talks to raise Asia ore prices
10 September 2008
Brazilian miner Vale do Rio Doce said it was in talks with Asian steelmakers to raise iron-ore prices for the second time this year, the Wall Street Journal reported. The hikes would bring the prices paid by Asian steelmakers - currently between 11% and 11.5% below prices paid by European firms - in line with their European counterparts. The company said the talks did not guarantee that iron ore prices would be raised, and said the increases would boost its revenues by less than 3%. Competitors BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto secured an average price increase of 85% from Chinese steelmakers over several categories of iron ore earlier this year.