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BHP 73.22, +2.67, +3.8%) wants a tripling in the price of coking coal that it sells under annual contract, to US$300 a metric ton from US$98/ton last Japanese fiscal year ended March 31, according to a report Monday citing unnamed Japanese sources in the Australian Financial Review newspaper.

The price rise sought exceeds the expectations of analysts who had been predicting levels in excess of US$200/ton but is below the current spot price of about US$350/ton, which has doubled this year, reflecting a tight global market, in part arising from supply disruptions from mines in central Queensland.