Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third- largest mining company, said it is still selling iron ore to China at a provisional price as benchmark negotiations with the Asian nation remain stalled.

“We are still shipping on a provisional price based on benchmark settlement,” Sam Walsh, chief executive officer of the London-based company’s iron ore unit, said at a conference in Perth today. Talks are not being held currently, he said.

Rio Tinto Group, the world’s second-largest exporter of iron ore, agreed to a 33 percent discount for contract prices this year with Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese mills and is yet to reach an agreement with Chinese buyers. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., Australia’s third -biggest iron ore producer, forged an agreement with the China Iron and Steel Association last month to cut prices by 35 percent.

“The majority of the ore that we’re currently shipping is against contracted tons and against the provisional settlement,” Walsh told reporters after a conference organized by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia.

Price talks with China, the largest iron ore buyer, have been slowed by the detainment of four Rio executives including Stern Hu, an Australian citizen and head of the company’s iron ore business in China. The four, detained in Shanghai since July 5, face charges of bribery and stealing commercial secrets from China’s steel industry.

Talks are expected to resume, “but I don’t know when,” Walsh said. “Remember that we have our negotiators detained.”

Find More Other News : Iron Ore, Mine Trade & Market, Mineral Exploration