* Interim deal extended until Dec. 31
* Kumba to sell a maximum 1.5 mln T to ArcelorMittal
(Adds details)
JOHANNESBURG Aug 23 (Reuters) – South African iron ore
miner Kumba Iron Ore said on Thursday it had agreed to
extend an interim supply deal with ArcelorMittal South Africa
until the end of the year as the companies wrangle to
resolve a dispute over pricing.
Kumba, a unit of Anglo American, said it would supply
the steelmaker with a maximum of 1.5 million tonnes of ore, with
ArcelorMittal paying a fixed price of $50 per tonne for ore for
its Saldanha plant and $70 per tonne for its inland plants.
Kumba had suspended an agreement with ArcelorMittal in
February 2010 under which it had sold it iron ore at a
discounted price of production costs plus 3 percent.
The deal was in place because ArcelorMittal had a mining
right in Kumba’s Sishen mine which it allowed to lapse, though
it insists the discount supply agreement still stands.
The companies are still in discussions on the terms of the
supply deal after Dec. 31 and until the finalisation of an
arbitration hearing.
ArcelorMittal has said it was confident the arbitration
would rule in its favour. The company already paid 1.1 billion
rand ($132.22 million) more for iron ore in 2011 due to the
dispute.
By 0851 GMT, Kumba was trading 2.3 percent higher at 565.19
rand, while ArcelorMittal was down 0.44 percent at 45 rand.
($1 = 8.3193 South African rand)
(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak; Editing by Jon Herskovitz)
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