* Iron ore miners face intense pressure from China's

state iron ore buyer

* Industry has broached idea of a single selling desk,

Senate panel says

* Government looks to support the miners in getting 'best

price', official says

By Melanie Burton

MELBOURNE, June 5 (Reuters) - Major miners and their

lobbyists have asked Canberra for help in pushing back against

China's efforts to extract better terms for their iron ore,

including raising the prospect of a single selling desk for

Australia's most valuable commodity export, senior government

officials said on Friday.

China's state iron ore buyer, China Mineral Resources Group

(CMRG), has been using increasingly hardball tactics against

mining giants to win better deals for the country's steel mills,

to tighten its grip on the $132 billion seaborne market.

The push by miners comes after CMRG blacklisted some of

BHP's iron ore for seven months, during protracted contract

talks. CMRG has also told some steelmakers not to engage in

discussions with Fortescue about a new iron ore product.

Australia is the biggest supplier of iron ore to China,

accounting for more than 50% of its imports.

Canberra watches that market closely as China is the

country's biggest trading partner and iron ore the most

lucrative commodity export, expected to reap A$114 billion ($81

billion) in the current financial year, according to government

estimates.

A Senate panel on Friday asked Department of Foreign Affairs

and Trade officials whether they had received a request from

BHP, Fortescue, Rio Tinto, Hancock, or the

Minerals Council for government intervention or support in

relation to CMRG and iron ore pricing.

Steven Yates, an assistant secretary in the department,

confirmed they had.

"Yes, I can say that we have engaged with those miners, and

during the course of those discussions there have been

suggestions on ways that we might be able to carry this issue

forward," Yates said, declining to offer more detail for reasons

of commercial confidence.

"We engage very regularly with Australian miners, and I try

to support them as best as possible to ensure that they can

continue to export their iron ore and receive the best price as

possible," he said.

The Senate panel also asked for a response "to the

proposition raised in industry circles that Australia needs some

sort of export-side coordination to cover a single state buyer."

Deputy Secretary George Mina replied that previous plans in

the agriculture sector to coordinate on supply had not been

well-received by trading partners, but this instance is

different as "there is already an established single buyer".

"So there's clearly these questions for long-term strategy,"

Mina said.

BHP, Rio Tinto, Fortescue and Hancock declined to comment.

One investor told Reuters an executive at a top iron ore

miners had mentioned they had flagged the issue to the

government but said Canberra has been trying to repair its

relationship with China so might not want to take up this fight

right now.

BHP reached a deal with CMRG in April, which included

agreeing to some yuan-denominated sales.

China is currently in negotiations with Fortescue and will

enter annual contract talks with Rio Tinto later this year.

($1 = 1.4037 Australian dollars)