http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-21/iron-ore-s-four-year-sli...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-21/iron-ore-s-four-year-slide-hitting-mining-earnings-commodities.html

Breaking Stranglehold

Iron ore for immediate delivery was $177.40 a metric ton on Sept. 20, according to a price index compiled by The Steel Index Ltd. The price reached a record $191.90 on Feb. 16. Kelly Quirke, a spokeswoman for BHP, and Karen Halbert, a spokeswoman for Rio, declined to comment on the iron ore outlook.

China has been on a decade-long drive to break the stranglehold of Rio, BHP and Vale by bankrolling rival mines. Chinese investors, mainly state-owned steelmakers, have funded at least 20 iron ore companies in Australia including Sundance Resources Ltd., Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (FMG) and Mount Gibson Iron Ltd. (MGX) In August, Shandong Iron & Steel Group Co. agreed to buy a 25 percent stake in African Minerals Ltd. (AMI)'s Tonkolili project in Sierra Leone for $1.5 billion.

In the last decade China had to absorb six years of gains in contract prices and failed to stop the three top suppliers moving to spot pricing, heightening tensions between the suppliers and the Chinese government.