South Korea''s POSCO said that it was seeking a 50% cut in contract iron ore prices for the year started on April 1.

Mr Kwon Young-tae vice president of POSCO in charge of raw material procurement told analysts and reporters that "The price gap is quite wide as miners are demanding a 20% reduction but we believe it has to go down by at least 50% from the 2008/09 level, as steel market conditions are very poor... We want to conclude the deal during April.”