Global miner BHP Billiton has reached terms for a “significant portion” of its hard coking coal volumes for 2010 with customers in China, Japan, India and Europe, the company said on Monday.

Its contracts are based on shorter-term, market based pricing, reflecting BHP’s efforts to move to market clearing prices over time across all bulk commodities, the company said in a statement.

The world’s largest miner did not disclose the terms of the deals but on Friday Japan’s JFE Holdings Inc., the world’s sixth-biggest steelmaker, said it had agreed with BHP to pay USD200 per tonne for coking coal for April-June.

That represents a 55 percent increase from the benchmark price for the 2009/10 financial year, ending March 31, of USD129, for the bulk commodity used in steel making.

The 55 percent rise was in line with media and analysts’ reports and the price represents around a 10 percent discount from the current spot market price of about USD220-USD230 a tonne.