Many steelmakers had hoped China would be able to use its size and power to extract concessions from the mining companies that supply most of the world's iron ore. Three big companies control roughly 75% of the global export market, leading some steelmakers to complain of unfair market concentration.

China desperately needs more iron ore, a key ingredient in steel, to build highways, factories and apartments. Many of the world's other big iron-ore buyers agreed to similar price increases a month ago, making it difficult for China to avoid a similar fate.

Last year, steelmakers absorbed a 71.5% boost in iron-ore prices, and many fear that continued increases will undermine their profitability in the years ahead.

China is the world's biggest buyer of iron ore, and as such, it arguably has more power to influence prices than any other consumer. Unlike most other commodities, whose costs are dictated by commodity exchanges, iron-ore prices are hammered out in annual negotiations between steelmakers and the three main suppliers: Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, of Brazil, and the two big Anglo-Australian mining companies BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Ltd.

Usually, Japanese and European steelmakers handle the negotiations on behalf of buyers. But this year, China tried to take the lead. It designated one company, Shanghai Baosteel Group Corp., to handle all negotiations and held out long after the Japanese and European buyers settled.

Had they won, the Chinese would have dented the power of the three big mining companies and possibly triggered lower prices for steelmakers around the globe. Instead, analysts said, China's failure merely emphasized that supplies of iron ore and other commodities remain extraordinarily tight, despite recent declines in some commodity prices amid fears of slowing global growth.

Chinese steel-industry officials vowed to learn from their failure, raising the specter of further skirmishes over prices in the years ahead.

To sign up for The Wall Street Journal Briefing please visit http://www.briefing.wsj.com/hktdc.