MMG accuses EU antitrust regulators of ignoring evidence backing Anglo American deal

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Hong Kong-listed mining and metals company MMG accused EU antitrust regulators on Thursday of ignoring evidence that its bid for Anglo American's Brazilian nickel business would not divert supplies from Europe to China.

The comments came after a day-long hearing at which MMG and Anglo American defended the $500 million deal before EU antitrust regulators, including the European Commission's top merger official, Guillaume Loriot.

"The Commission's decision to open an in-depth inquiry and the allegations of a plan to divert supply of ferronickel from Europe are fundamentally unsupported," MMG's executive general manager for corporate relations Troy Hey told reporters.

"The Commission has selectively used two partial and misleading quotations from over 200,000 documents supplied by MMG and its major shareholder — while ignoring all the other evidence, economic and market analysis to the contrary," he said.

The Commission, the EU's competition watchdog, warned last month that MMG could redirect ferronickel supplies away from Europe, potentially harming the bloc's stainless steel producers. The case comes amid broader EU concerns about dependence on China for critical minerals.

Hey also accused the Commission of ignoring market developments since opening a full-scale investigation in November and the independent market analysis it had commissioned.

He said commodities traders Glencore and Trafigura had written to the Commission saying they were confident MMG would continue supplying them.

Hey said MMG was willing to address all of the Commission's concerns, suggesting it may be prepared to offer remedies in the coming weeks.

Anglo American Brazil Chief Operating Officer Ruben Fernandes and Chief Financial Officer Cristina Morgan were expected to tell regulators at the hearing that blocking the deal would likely force the mine to close, according to prepared remarks seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee. Editing by Mark Potter)