Iron ore talks still deadlocked

Beijing - This year's iron ore benchmark talks will not end in agreement any time soon because Chinese steel mills will not accept a price that is higher than what the processed products can be sold for, Deng Qilin, the president of Wuhan Iron & Steel Group, said yesterday.

Deng, who is also the chairman of the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA), said: "Although the prices of steel products have picked up this year, they still cannot digest the pressure from rising iron ore prices.

"Chinese steel mills are suffering from slender profits while iron ore miners only have to dig about a meter underground. What costs them $10 they sell for $100. Is it fair?"