Hunan (Platts)--28Feb2011/202 am EST/702 GMT
Chinese steelmaker Baosteel has entered into a three-year coking coal purchase agreement with Rio Tinto, according to a statement from Baosteel Monday. Under the agreement signed on February 24, Rio Tinto will start to supply quality coking coal to Baosteel for three years, starting in 2011. The statement did not specify the annual tonnage agreed upon, but according to a source at Baosteel's raw materials department, the company has been importing about 300,000-500,000 mt/year of coal from Rio Tinto over the past few years. Baosteel imports a total 1 million-1.5 million mt of coal annually. Rio Tinto supplies about 13.6 million mt/year of coal, ranking fifth in the world with a global market share of 5.7%, the statement said. Rio Tinto's flagship premium hard coking coal brand is Hail Creek, which has about 73% coke strength after reaction, 20.5% volatile matter, 400 ddpm fluidity, 8.5% ash and 0.4% sulfur.--Reggie Le, newsdesk@platts.comSimilar stories appear in Steel Markets Daily. See more information at http://bit.ly/SteelMarketsDaily