EUROFER has welcomed the recent decision of the European Commission to open a detailed investigation under the EU merger regulation into the proposed merger of BHP and Rio Tinto.

Mr Gordon Moffat director genera of EUROFER said that “We appreciate that the Commission shares the serious concerns of the European steel industry as regards the competition effects of this proposed merger and considers that this requires an in depth analysis. We are confident that the full investigation will demonstrate that our concerns are justified and that this merger should not be permitted to proceed. We will cooperate fully with the Commission in this second phase of the investigation.”

EUROFER since November of last year has at several stages pointed out that it could not accept a merger of two of the three mining companies which dominate almost 75% of the world market for seaborne iron ore. Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are the number two and three in the world’s iron ore business after Vale. The proposed merger would give the combined company a market share of almost 40 % of the seaborne iron ore market. Vale already has more than 33 %.

Represented by EUROFER, the European steel industry is the world leader in its sector with a turnover of EUR 140 billion and direct employment of 370 thousand people, producing 200 million tonnes of steel per year.