BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai-based Baosteel, China's leading steelmaker, has decided to raise the prices of its key products by six to eight percent in the third quarter.

    The steelmaker said the hike will help narrow the price difference between the international market and the domestic one, Wednesday's China Business News reported, quoting Baosteel.

    Baosteel claimed that in the second quarter, the price of its carbon steel in the domestic market was 100 to 200 U.S. dollars lower per ton than in the United States and European markets, and also 50 to 80 dollars lower than neighboring Japan and the Republic of Korea.

    It said the price of hot-rolled steel will rise by 300 to 400 yuan per ton in the third quarter over the first quarter price and the price of cold-rolled steel will jump 300 to 600 yuan per ton.

    This will be Baosteel's second price hike this year. In the second quarter prices of its key products rose by more than 10 percent.

    The steelmaker, a leading negotiator in this year's iron ore price talks, had hoped to secure a lower price rise for the industry after Chinese steelmakers were forced to accept a 71.5 percent hike in the iron ore price last year.

    So far, it has not reached an agreement with the world's three largest iron ore suppliers, including Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton, Australia's Rio Tinto Group and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) of Brazil.

    The report quoted industry insiders as saying that the Chinese central government was considering cutting the steel export tax rebate from the current 11 percent to 5 percent. Enditem