China Daily citing Mr Luo Bingsheng former vice chairman of the China Iron & Steel Association as saying that as BHP Billiton Ltd has changed the quarterly pricing of iron ore to monthly the annual iron ore price talks would be unnecessary.

Mr Luo said BHP Billiton has also raised the iron ore off-shore price from USD 155 per tonne to USD 168 per tonne without consulting Chinese steel mills beforehand and Chinese steel enterprises had to accept the price.

(Sourced from chinadaily.com.cn)