(Adds details, background)
BRUSSELS, June 9 (Reuters) - A planned joint venture between Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton poses competition issues, European steel industry body Eurofer said on Tuesday, urging EU antitrust authorities to look into the deal.
Rio and BHP, the world's second- and third-largest iron ore miners respectively, have said they plan to combine their Western Australian iron ore operations into a 50-50 joint venture, estimating savings of at least $10 billion.
The move came after Rio ditched a $19.5 billion deal with Chinese metals group Chinalco. BHP failed to acquire Rio last year.
The European Commission, which monitors mergers in the 27-nation European Union, had started an investigation then, citing the high level of market concentration from the proposed takeover. It dropped the probe after the bid failed. "The European steel industry continues to believe that a merger of iron ore assets of this type in a world market already dominated by just three suppliers would not be in the interests of the steel industry," Eurofer said in a statement.
The World Steel Association last week urged competition authorities to examine the deal. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Dale Hudson)