This is the same price Anglo American struck for the commodity with Nippon Steel and JFE Steel, according to earlier reports, which was 47% higher than its previous quarterly contracts due to the impact of Queensland’s devastating wet season on global supply.

Japanese reporters from Bloomberg also revealed that Rio struck a $175/t June quarter iron ore contract with Kobe – up 25% from the current quarterly price.

BHP, the largest supplier of seaborne-traded hard coking coal, pioneered the introduction of quarterly prices last year.

But its plans to move to monthly prices have not been well received by Japanese steelmakers, which quickly aired their grievances to local media.

McCloskey reported that BHP has started settling hard coking coal contracts at $325/t for this quarter and was offering $300/t for the month of April.

Investment bank Salman Partners recently noted it was unclear if any customers had opted for a monthly coking coal contract from BHP.

Prices are expected to dip from the September quarter as force majeure has been lifted from most weather-affected Queensland coal mines.

Salman analysts have forecast hard coking coal prices to average $251.35/t free-on-board for the 2011 calendar year.

BHP predicted that its metallurgical coal production, sales and unit costs would be affected for the rest of this financial year.