July 25 (Bloomberg) -- China's National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top planner, held a meeting to discuss imposing price caps on steel, coking coal and coke to help manufacturers cope with rising costs, two officials said.

China Iron and Steel Association, China Coking Industry Association, producers and manufacturers met Wednesday in Beijing, the industry officials said, declining to be identified because the talks are private. There was no agreement, they said.

General Motors Corp. and China State Shipbuilding Co. are battling rising materials costs as inflation in China reached 7.9 percent in the first half. China yesterday ordered a cap on prices of energy coal to help producers cope with costs as the country battles a sixth year of electricity shortages.

``The fragmented nature of the steel market will make it hard for prices to be controlled,'' said Li Xinchuang, vice president of the China Metallurgical Industry Planning & Research Institute. ``Steel prices should be decided by the market.''

The planner, known as NDRC, have been asked to study capping coking coal prices, another official at the commission said, declining to be named because he isn't a spokesman.

Coking coal is used to make coke, which is an ingredient in steelmaking.

Record Prices

The price for hot-rolled coil, a benchmark steel product, has gained 51 percent in the past year, reaching a record 5,957 yuan ($873) a ton on June 5. Coking coal prices more than doubled this year to as much as 2,500 yuan a ton.

The global market for coking coal is extremely tight and prices will continue to rise through 2010 on supply constraints, Citigroup Inc.'s analyst Alan Heap said. ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, last month said the world may be facing its first steel shortage in decades.

International supplies of coking coal have been crimped this year because of flooding in Australian mines owned by BHP Billiton Ltd, the largest exporter of the fuel.

Coking coal exports from China will fall 6.8 percent this year to 14.26 million tons, research company McCloskey Group said yesterday.

China's economy has grown more than 10 percent annually for the past five years, fueling a building and consumption boom.

The officials declined to name the producers and manufacturers who attended the meeting.

To contact the reporters on this story: Wang Ying in Beijing at wang30@bloomberg.net; Helen Yuan in Shanghai at hyuan@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 25, 2008 02:03 EDT