Sett 2004 Coking Coal Prices

BHP Billiton Limited
10 February 2004

     BHP Billiton Limited is issuing this announcement to fulfil disclosure
  obligations arising from its secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange.

    The text of this release is identical to that issued by BHP Billiton Plc
                                    earlier.


Date                 10 February 2004
Number               09/04

                  BHP BILLITON SETTLES 2004 COKING COAL PRICES

BHP Billiton today announced it had settled commercial terms for the majority of
annually priced coking coal contracts relating to the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi
Alliance (BMA) and BHP Mitsui Coal operations in Queensland, and the BHP
Billiton Illawarra Coal operations in New South Wales.

  • FOB ($US) returns for all brands of metallurgical coals have increased by
    an average of 28 per cent.

Sales volumes are expected to remain strong over the course of the contract
period, commencing 1 April 2004.


Further information on BHP Billiton can be found on our Internet site: 
http://www.bhpbilliton.com

Australia                                                     United Kingdom
Andrew Nairn, Investor Relations                              Mark Lidiard, Investor & Media Relations
Tel: [phone] Mobile: [phone]                  Tel: [phone]
email: [e-mail]                         email: [e-mail]

Tania Price, Media Relations                                  Ariane Gentil, Media Relations
Tel: [phone] Mobile: [phone]                  Tel: [phone] Mobile: [phone]
email: [e-mail]                            email: [e-mail]

United States                                                 South Africa
Francis McAllister, Investor Relations                        Michael Campbell, Investor & Media Relations
Tel: [phone] Mobile: [phone]                  Tel: [phone] Mobile: [phone]
email: [e-mail]                   email: [e-mail]

BHP Billiton Limited ABN 49 004 028 077                     BHP Billiton Plc Registration number 3196209
Registered in Australia                                     Registered in England and Wales
Registered Office: Level 27, 180 Lonsdale Street Melbourne  Registered Office: Neathouse Place London SW1V 1BH United
Victoria 3000                                               Kingdom
Telephone [phone] Facsimile [phone]        Telephone [phone] Facsimile [phone]

                   The BHP Billiton Group is headquartered in Australia


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange