Asian Highlights

摘要

In its deal with Baoshan Iron & Steel at the end of June Rio Tinto not only raised the ore price by 85 percent, it outflanked Vale and finally gained some benefit from the lower movement costs between Australia and China haul. BHP followed suit and new contracts around Asia moved up correspondingly. These higher costs have made it all the more urgent for Chinese steelmakers to raise the unit value of their products - consume semis internally, for instance, instead of exporting them.