WISCO to purchase 3.5 million mt of iron ore from BHP Billiton in 2011

Hubei Province-based Chinese steelmaker Wuhan Iron and Steel Company (WISCO) has recently signed an iron ore supply contract with Australian iron miner BHP Billiton.
 
According to the contract, WISCO will purchase 3.5 million mt of iron ore from BHP Billiton in 2011. The ore will be supplied from the Newman mining area in Western Australia.
 
WISCO has been importing iron ore from Australia since the 1980s. In November 2002, WISCO first inked a memorandum of understanding with BHP Billiton for iron ore supplies. From October 1, 2005 up to the present, BHP has supplied an aggregate 17 million mt of high quality iron ore to WISCO.