China's lead steel negotiator has formally rejected iron ore price cuts negotiated between Rio Tinto, the Australian mining group, and Japanese and South Korean steel mills, signalling a showdown between Beijing and the miners.

"These prices do not reflect a mutually beneficial, win-win relationship for steelmakers and iron ore suppliers," the China Iron and Steel Association said yesterday in a terse, three-point statement posted on its website. "Cisa therefore cannot accept these prices and will not follow them."