Although Chinese ore buyers have tried to present a united front in the past with little success as they vied to compete with one another, that has recently changed. In October iron ore spot prices saw an 18 percent month-to-month plunge and posted the sharpest one-week slide on record. With China's real-estate sector teetering on the brink, this clearly reflected a loss of appetite among steelmakers. However, in addition to this a unified negotiating position from Chinese mills also helped force prices down.

Baosteel—one of China's largest mills—said it was working with other Chinese firms to try to get global miners to renegotiate ore contract prices. The spot market for steel fell about 20 percent from about USD 164 a ton for contract rates. Chine mills coordinated their effort to delay purchases, forcing companies such as Vale, the second-biggest mining company, to agree to contracted prices.

For the mining majors, the good news is that China's demand is not as weak as it appeared. Negotiating tactics as well as fading constructive drove October's imports down. Yet now Chinese steelmakers have shown they can get their act together when it count.