MMG's Anglo nickel asset deal faces EU antitrust warning over ferronickel supply concerns

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MMG Anglo nickel deal EU warning

Highlights

EU regulators plan to issue a formal warning next week over MMG's acquisition of Anglo's Brazilian nickel assets, citing ferronickel supply risks to Europe.
DG COMP is concerned the deal could reduce ferronickel availability and increase production costs for European stainless steel producers, despite MMG's rebuttal.
Eurofer and rival supplier CoreX warn the deal may heighten Chinese-linked resource concentration, threatening Europe's industrial resilience and steelmakers' supply security.

EU review centers on Brazilian ferronickel supply

As first reported by the Financial Times, EU regulators are preparing to issue a formal warning over the transaction next week, according to people familiar with the decision. The European Commission's competition arm, DG COMP, is investigating whether MMG's acquisition of the Brazilian assets would reduce ferronickel supplies to European stainless steel producers and raise their production costs.

MMG is urging Brussels to clear the deal and says the competitive risks are being overstated. Troy Hey, the company's executive general manager of corporate relations, says independently commissioned data used by DG COMP shows there is neither an ability nor an incentive to foreclose the market, and that the case should be judged on the evidence rather than geopolitical considerations.

Anglo American says European customers already switch readily among different suppliers. But critics argue ferronickel sources are not easily interchangeable because differences in nickel content, quality, reliability and carbon intensity can make alternative supply more difficult or more expensive for manufacturers in Europe.

Steel sector warns of rising China-linked resource concentration

Brussels is seeking to reduce dependence on China for a wide range of metals and critical minerals after Beijing imposed export restrictions on multiple materials. Although ferronickel is not classified as a critical mineral, the proposed sale is drawing attention because of concerns that growing Chinese ownership of overseas supply could weaken Europe's industrial resilience.

Eurofer says the outcome of the Commission's probe must protect Europe's ability to source responsibly and continue producing high-quality stainless steel in the region without allowing any one country to dominate the global market. Christophe Moulin, senior nickel analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, says the deal is highly political for Europe and its stainless steel producers, which rely on imported ferronickel for their meltshops.

Opponents of the deal also frame it within the broader contest for strategic resources amid the escalating U.S.-China trade war. CoreX Holding, a rival ferronickel supplier founded by Turkish investor Robert Yildirim, says European steelmakers would struggle to replace Anglo's Brazilian output if supplies were redirected, while Yildirim says he remains interested in buying the mines himself.

In our earlier report on the emerging contest for global savings, we explained how governments are increasingly trying to steer cross-border capital into preferred assets, especially long-dated government debt. We noted concerns that the U.S. could push foreign investors toward Treasuries through a mix of policy pressure and financial tools, while other major economies—including the EU—rethink how to keep more capital at home, raising the risk of deeper financial fragmentation.

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