European steelmakers Friday said they were against BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) and Rio Tinto PLC's (RTP) proposed iron ore joint venture and called upon the European Commission to closely examine it.

"We are strictly against this joint venture which leads to a similar situation to the proposed merger" last year of BHP and Rio Tinto, Axel Eggert, spokesman for Eurofer, the federation of European steelmakers, said Friday.

We are "strictly against because they can then determine prices on the world market," he added.

Rio Tinto and BHP together accounted for 33% of the world's 2007 sea-borne iron ore trade. The top three producers, including Brazil's Vale S.A. (VALE), account for 69.2% of the world's seaborne iron ore trade.

Steelmakers around the world, who rely on iron ore to make steel, are concerned that the joint venture would concentrate too much iron ore production within the hands of a single entity.

 
   Company Web site: http://www.eurofer.be

-By Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9328; alex.macdonald@dowjones.com