TOKYO, June 12 (Reuters) - Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp 5401.T , Japan's biggest steelmaker, has ended quarterly negotiations with Australian suppliers over coking coal prices for April to June and will set quarterly prices based on spot price indexes, a spokesman said on Monday.
The move suggests the end of the decades-old fixed price settlement mechanism between Japanese steelmakers and global miners and follows recent swings of the prices of the key steel-making ingredient.
Coking coal supply contracts between Australian miners and Japanese steelmakers have been accepted as the benchmark around the world.