"There are spot and contract prices, Asia and Europe prices...We need one price for all imported ores," Secretary-General Shan Shanghua told reporters on the sidelines of the two-day China International Steel & Raw Materials Conference.

"We need to rethink about the (negotiation) mechanism for next year," he said, adding the association has already approached the three major suppliers on possible changes.

Chinese steel mills, led by Baosteel Group Corp., usually negotiate with Australian miners BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), Rio Tinto PLC (RTP), and Brazilian miner Companhia Vale Do Rio Doce (RIO), or Vale, once a year to settle the contract prices.

This year, however, in a deviation from tradition, Vale sought a second increase of prices in the year for its ores sold in Asia to bring the prices in line with European prices, which led to strong objections from the Chinese steel industry.

The current pricing system isn't "reasonable" for Chinese mills, Shan said, adding the association is aware of the potential difficulties in establishing a substantive change of the existing system.

To regulate domestic industry, the association will take measures to stop big mills from selling their imported ores to smaller ones, and control the total amount each firm can import, he added.