China Steel Group ‘Firmly Objects’ to Rio-BHP Venture (Update1)

June 9 (Bloomberg) -- The China Iron & Steel Association said it “firmly objects” to the deal between the Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd. to combine iron-ore assets in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. BHP agreed to pay Rio $5.8 billion to create the 50-50 venture, the two companies said last week. The two will continue to sell their ore independently through their own marketing groups. This kind of agreement “hints heavily of monopoly,” the association said in a statement on its Web site today. China, the world’s biggest steelmaker, joins Japanese and other global rivals in voicing opposition after BHP, the world’s largest mining company announced the proposed venture June 5. Rio Tinto also decided to scrap a $19.6 billion investment plan from Aluminum Corp. of China. The venture should be blocked because it isn’t in the public interest, the World Steel Association said June 5 in a statement. The accord doesn’t allay the “far greater competition issues that we were, and are still, concerned about,” Director General Ian Christmas said.