BHP and Rio Tinto deal upsets Chinese Authorities

Posted in Industry News on 22nd December 2009

Chinese metal authorities were left incensed this week after it was announced that the world"s two biggest miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton had completed a deal to combine their iron ore operations within Western Australia

Speaking on Thursday, a spokesperson representing China"s steel and metal industry, announced that they "firmly opposed" the deal and were currently seeking the necessary legal avenues to impose an injunction after branding the joint iron ore venture as a "monopoly in disguise".

Accusations of creating a monopoly have arisen after Chinese authority figures believed the deal went directly against "fair competition" principles and would inevitably cause an irrational rise in prices across the metal industry.

As a result, steel industry figure heads were seeking for senior officials in Beijing to use anti-monopoly measures to stop the deal.

As the Chinese iron ore industry reeled from these revelations, the rest of the Asian market was buoyed by news of a rise in price for tin, which hit a 14 month high earlier this week.

It is believed that the surge in price was caused by increased demand for tin across Europe and Japan. Prices rose by $440 to $15,740 per tonne, whilst turnover also increased from 60 tonnes to 85 tonnes.

In light of the increase in tin demand, metal traders were expecting further prices to rise for several metals as the week progressed.

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