Iron price up 65% for Asian firms

Demand from China has driven up iron ore prices

Japanese and South Korean steel mills have agreed to pay Brazilian miner Vale 65% more for iron ore this year.

Japan's Nippon Steel and South Korea's Posco said they would pay Vale $78.90 a tonne from April. It is thought JFE Steel agreed a similar price.

The settlement means iron ore prices will hit a record for the sixth year in a row on continued demand for steel to power China's construction boom.

Some believe miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are also keen to raise prices.

Relief

Since 2000, China has been a huge importer of steel after its domestic mining failed to keep pace with its rush to industrialise.

This phenomenon has supported the price of spot iron ore, which has almost tripled over the past decade.

There have been fears that steel makers profits could be stunted by their inability to pass on all the costs to customers, particularly as shipping costs have risen too.

But shares in Nippon Steel, JFE Holdings, which owns JFE Steel, and Posco all rose on relief that the 2008 price was not greater.

"The market was relieved now that one of the negative factors weighing on the stock prices has been played out," said Takashi Aoki, vice president at the equity investment division of Mizuho Asset Management.