news report: china accepts 33% cut, page-2

Not Yet, but should be close.

SHANGHAI, July 8 (Reuters) - China's steel mills have not yet struck a deal on iron ore prices with foreign suppliers, an executive from a top steelmaker said on Wednesday, rebuffing a newspaper report that China had given in on talks.

"There's still no deal so far. Negotiations are still going on," Tian Zhiping, the vice general manager of Hebei Iron and Steel Group told Reuters by phone.

Earlier the China Business News reported, citing informed sources it did not name, that the China Iron and Steel Association had agreed to a 33 percent price cut, the same price agreed between Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) and Japanese and South Korean mills.

Such a cut would represent a climbdown for the Chinese mills, which have been holding out for a return to 2007 prices, implying a cut of at least 40 percent.