Iron manufacturer negotiations, is intended to be linked with the spot market, short-term contracts to replace with 40-year-old, based on annual contracts and lengthy negotiations on iron ore pricing system.
    But one executive involved in the negotiations added, including the Vale do Rio Doce (Vale), UK-based BHP Billiton (BHPBilliton) and Rio Tinto (RioTinto) business, including mine, as well as Nippon Steel (NipponSteel), Japan kawatetsu (JFE), Sumitomo Metal (SumitomoMetals) and Kobe Steel (Kobe) and other iron and steel manufacturers are still some significant obstacles need to be resolved in order to reach a final agreement. This initial agreement sent the clearest signal to date that the mine operators under the pressure for change, the traditional annual iron ore negotiations on a system about to die.