Foreign Miners Seek Monthly Contract

China Minmetals stressed its support for longer-term contracts amid rumors that the three international iron ore groups intend to replace the existing quarterly contracts with monthly ones. The group held a long-term contract facilitates an easy arrangement for logistics and transportation.

An index-based pricing system may add to complication and disputes as manipulative and speculative activities tend to creep in. Minmetals handles about 20 million tons of 66 percent Fe content iron ore domestically per year, including five to six million tons of homegrown materials. Its goal is to govern at least 10 million tons of indigenous resources by 2015.