China Assoc: Strongly Opposes BHP-Rio Iron Ore Joint Venture
June 09 2009 - 5:11AM
Dow Jones News
The China Iron and Steel Association said Tuesday it strongly
opposes the iron ore joint venture announced Friday by Rio Tinto
PLC (RTP) and BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), according to a statement on
the association's Web site.
"The joint venture agreement goes in the direction of a
monopoly," the statement said, adding the association would "resist
monopolistic ways."
The association suggested China should have a say in global iron
ore trading as it is Australia's largest customer for iron ore
exports.
"The BHP-Rio deal is tied to Chinese companies' interests," the
association said.
In addition, the statement also warned local iron ore traders
from seeking to profit from speculation in the iron ore trade.
The association said it would suspend the iron ore import
licenses of those found to have resold imported ore at a
profit.
China has sought to curb high ore imports in recent months;
preliminary figures from the Ministry of Transportation released
Tuesday suggest the country could have imported 55.5 million metric
tons of iron ore in May, up 25% on year.
-Juan Chen and Chuin-Wei Yap contributed to this report, Dow
Jones Newswires; 8610 6588 5848; juan.chen@dowjones.com