Rio Tinto announced that it has reached agreement with all of its customers in Asia for iron ore deliveries from Hamersley Iron, Robe River and Hope Downs for the contract year commencing 1 April 2008.

The new settlements are in line with Hamersley Iron’s Baosteel settlement, which saw lump prices increase by 96.5% and fines prices increase by 79.88%.

Mr Sam Walsh CEO of Rio Tinto’s Iron Ore group said that “These agreements are a strong endorsement of the settlement reached last week and reflect the very strong demand for our products across the world’s fastest growing markets. The agreements throughout Asia will provide an important platform as we embark on the largest expansion in Rio Tinto Iron Ore’s history, increasing production from the Pilbara to 320 million tonnes of iron ore per annum in 2012 and 420 million tonnes per annum beyond that.”