March 5 (Bloomberg) -- BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group, the world’s largest and third-biggest mining companies, offered Chinese customers price discounts to keep buying iron ore, China’s Shougang Corp. said.

Chinese steelmakers have cut back on purchases and are using inventories rather than buying discounted material, Shougang’s Chairman Zhu Jimin said today in Beijing. China is the world’s largest buyer of iron ore.

BHP Billiton and Rio are trying to maintain sales and production volumes as China’s economic slowdown hurts steelmakers. India’s iron-ore exports in March will slump because of reduced Chinese purchases, the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries said yesterday.

The two iron ore producers have offered to sell the material at spot prices, which are lower than benchmark contracted prices, until new benchmarks for the year are decided, Shougang’s Zhu said at the sidelines of a meeting of the country’s legislative advisory body.

Shougang is China’s eighth largest steelmaker.