Australia's competition regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has once again postponed the results of its review on the gigantic
iron ore joint venture planned by Australian
iron ore miners
BHP Billiton and
Rio Tinto for their Western Australian assets.
Accordingly, the former proposed date for the announcement of the ACCC's findings of July 22, 2010 has been amended to allow time for
BHP Billiton and
Rio Tinto to make additional submissions.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, the ACCC, which started its review on December 9 and was originally to report its findings on February 24, had pushed back the date a few times. The ACCC said on its website it would announce a new date in due course.
If the joint venture is realized between the world's second and third largest
iron ore producers, their combined
production would immediately exceed that of the world's top producer
Brazil-based Vale. The European Commission is also investigating the joint venture.