The world’s largest miners are pushing ahead with iron ore price negotiations with Japan while leaving their biggest customer, China, out in the cold, a report said yesterday.
The world’s top three iron ore producers — Brazil’s Vale and Anglo-Australian companies Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton — have sidelined Beijing from annual talks to set a benchmark contract price, the Financial Times said.
The companies plan to present a “take it or leave it” price to Chinese steel mills once negotiations with Japan are complete, it said.
“As far as I am concerned, they [Chinese negotiators] could come over to Australia if they want to talk,” an unnamed executive told the paper.
The report comes one day after Chinese authorities said they had concluded a commercial espionage probe relating to Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu (胡士泰), but gave no indication of whether the Australian passport-holder would face trial.
Hu and three other Rio employees were arrested in Shanghai in July during last year’s iron-ore talks, prompting concerns within the industry about dealing with China.
BHP Billiton and Rio refused to comment on the article.
“We never discuss or provide commentary on pricing discussions,” a spokesman for Rio said.
Japan’s two largest steelmakers, Nippon Steel and JFE Steel, also refrained from commenting.
“Since it’s a matter of negotiations among private firms, we are not in a position to comment,” a spokesman for JFE Steel said.
Annual iron ore pricing negotiations traditionally begin with Japan around November and take place alongside similar negotiations with China.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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