As reported by an insider at Chinese steelmaker Hebei Iron and Steel Group, the company has suggested to the MIIT (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China) the establishment of a national mining company to unify iron ore imports, in order to improve organization on the Chinese side during the annual iron ore contract price talks.
The new umbrella company could initially consist of the 16 largest steel mills in China, would be responsible for iron ore purchases and investments of all mills combined, and would distribute iron ore according to the equity share of each mill.
Thus, the total import volume of these mills might reach 200 million mt, and this would also benefit China's negotiations on long-term prices with the ‘big three' miner, the insider said.