Chief executives from 16 major Chinese steel companies were attending the crunch talks to decide how to handle their negotiations with the world's three biggest iron ore producers, according to the state-run Shanghai Securities News.

"The meeting is still in progress," an official with the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, said, insisting on not being named.

Chinese steelmakers refused to provide further details about the gathering that came clearly in response to the agreements by Japanese and European steelmakers this week to pay 19 percent more for iron ore this year.

China had this year taken the lead role in the drawn-out talks with Australia's Rio Tinto, Brazil's Companhia Vale do Rio Doc and Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton.

The three firms produce about 75 percent of the world's iron ore.

European and Japanese firms had in the past negotiated the annual price but after they agreed a 71.5-percent rise last year, China, the world's largest iron ore importer, decided it could not afford to sit on the sidelines.

It reportedly had been pushing for no price hikes initially and then set a limit of 10 percent while at one point in March the Chinese government threatened to implement price caps on ore imports.

That position was roundly criticized abroad as being against global trade roles and Beijing had to promptly back off.

Chinese companies such as Hanggang Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of steelmaker Hanggang Group, continue to insist that margins are far too tight to accept further price rises.

"We are having a tough time," said a manager for the Hangzhou-based group surnamed Shi. "Our profit is very little now; if the price keeps increasing it will affect the whole industry a lot."