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And the news on coking coal prices keeps rolling out:

UPDATE 1-JFE agrees to 55 pct rise in coal price April-June
Fri Mar 5, 2010 10:19am GMT

* Agrees to pay $200 a tonne for April-June

* Not scrapping annual contract - JFE (Adds details, background)

TOKYO, March 5 (Reuters) - Japan's JFE Holdings Inc (5411.T), the world's sixth-biggest steelmaker, said on Friday it had agreed with BHP Billiton (BHP.AX)(BLT.L) to pay $200 per tonne for coking coal for April-June.

That represents a 55 percent increase from the benchmark price for the 2009/10 financial year, ending March 31, of $129.

The 55 percent rise was in line with media and analysts' reports and the price is about a 10 percent discount from the current spot market price of about $220-$230 a tonne.

The Nikkei newspaper reported last month that BHP had offered $200 per tonne for April-June as it aimed to move to a pricing system that could respond more rapidly to market conditions.

Mining companies aimed to raise coal prices for the first time in two years as spot prices surged on the back of expanded steel output in China and across Asia.

Nippon Steel Corp (5401.T), the world's second-biggest steelmaker, declined to comment on whether it had struck a deal with BHP, the world's biggest diversified miner.

It is the first time Japanese steel mills have agreed to a quarterly pricing contract for the key steelmaking ingredient, but a JFE spokesman said the agreement did not mean the firm had scrapped an annual benchmark pricing system.

"We'll start new negotiations after July. This doesn't mean we accepted their call for a shift to shorter-term contracts," a JFE spokesman said.

BHP has been pushing hard for a quarterly pricing system for coking coal in place of the 40-year-old annual benchmark pricing system for traditional bulk buyers.

Japanese mills had resisted the proposal, which conflicts with sales practices with their key customers such as automakers.

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Cheers, Skip