Rio Tinto Limited
(ASX:RIO) and rival global mining company BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP) have been accused of manipulating the price of iron ore by intentionally holding back supply.
China's main economic adviser claims three major miners and some traders have delayed shipments and held back stocks to control supplies in order to send a fake market signal of supply shortage.
The National Development and Reform Commission has not individually named the companies but the world’s biggest iron ore producers are Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Brazil's Vale.
While Rio Tinto is yet to address the report BHP Billiton has denied the claims and told the media it is very normal for industry participants to both buy and sell cargo to balance their books.
The benchmark iron ore prices sunk to lows of $US87 a tonne in September 2012 but since rebounded by about 25 per cent to about $US158 a tonne earlier in 2013.
Rio Tinto reported a net loss of $2.9 billion in the 2012 financial year.
