Coal & Allied responding to markets from page one

摘要

purchasing practices by utilities," Rio Tinto's finance director Guy Elliott said at the webcast. Some of the unit's "high-priced legacy contracts (in Asia) have been replaced by new contracts priced in line with current market conditions," he added. Clifford said Coal & Allied's support of spot transactions linked to the Global Coal indices was meant to ensure transparency as Asian utilities increasingly enter into short-term deals. "We haven't been driving coal prices towards spot or the coal market towards increasing spot prices. What we did in supporting the Global Coal index, we tried to ensure a little bit of transparency," Clifford said. "We certainly are not trying to drive the market towards an emphasis on spot. I know some commentators have made that (statement) but that's not been our (intention)," he added.