Global miner Rio Tinto said on Tuesday in a web announcement that it had finalized agreements with all of its Asian customers for iron ore price talks in line with the settlement of China's Baosteel.

Deliveries from Hamersley Iron, Robe River and Hope Downs for the contract year that started on April 1 would see lump prices increase by 96.5 percent and fines prices rise 79.88 percent, said the announcement.

Sam Walsh, chief executive of Rio Tinto's Iron Ore group, said these agreements were a strong endorsement of the settlement reached last week and reflected global demand for the products.

Shanghai-based Umetal.com analyst Hu Kai told Xinhua on Tuesday that global steel prices began to surge from 2007, which further pushed up iron ore prices.

Baosteel, China's largest iron and steel maker, said on June 23 that it had agreed with the Australian mining group on a price increase of up to 96.5 percent for iron ore in 2008, nearly double that of 2007.

(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2008)