The International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) has issued a formal request that all the relevant competition authorities in the EU, US, China, Australia and Japan should review the proposed merger between BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) and Rio Tinto PLC (RTP).
Representing more than 180 steel producers worldwide, the IISI's general secretary Ian Christmas said that the IISI supports free and fair trade but as the seaborne iron ore trade is already dominated by Brazil's Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) and by Australia-based companies Rio Tinto PLC (RTP) and BHP Billiton PLC (BHP), which together account for about 70 percent of the seaborne market, it would oppose the alliance in question as it would create a monopoly in the iron ore trade.
Christmas also added that even the largest steel company in the world today accounts for less than 15 percent of total world steel production and that the competition authorities should recognize the threat the merger poses to the interests of steel consumers and the general public.