Unnamed industry executives told Bloomberg the major Japanese steelmaker will pay $US90 a tonne for Australian PCI coal, 62-63% down from $US240/t and $US245/t from last year.

Neither Macarthur nor Nippon Steel confirmed the cuts with the news service.

Just over a week ago Nippon Steel inked deals with BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance for coking coal at $US115-125/t and premium coking coal at $US128-129/t, with the latter 57% down from unprecedented prices of $US300/t achieved last year.

According to the Indian newspaper, the Economic Times, three major Indian steelmakers are chasing 40-70% cuts in coking coal and iron ore contracts as the established bargaining period of the new Japanese financial year starts up in April.

An unnamed top executive of the Steel Authority of India told the newspaper the recent BMA benchmark prices had the company considering $US90-100/t for coking coal.

He also told the newspaper SAI was aiming to settle long-term contracts by the end of April and would shortly conduct meetings with global suppliers.

SAI is a major coking coal importer from Australia and the United States, reportedly taking up nearly half of India’s total imports of 21.5 million tonnes.

The newspaper said the other two Indian steelmakers chasing the iron ore and coking coal cuts are JSW Steel and Ispat.

No specific price range for iron ore was detailed by SAI, however the newspaper reported Indian iron ore exporter NMDC was negotiating contracts with Japanese steel mills, which could set a benchmark price.