CHINA'S smaller steel makers want to be represented in annual iron ore price talks as they are paying higher prices for the raw material than larger rivals, a trade group said.

    Baosteel Group Corp, the country's largest producer, should represent the whole industry in talks, rather than just the bigger mills, Geng Bingxi, deputy secretary general of the China Chamber of Commerce for Metallurgy Industry, said yesterday.

    "China should study a new negotiation mechanism," Geng told reporters at a Umetal.com conference in Xiamen. "The leading negotiator should represent the whole industry rather than some producers who enjoy long-term contracts at lower prices."