BHP Billiton chief moves to ease competition concerns on Rio bid

SYDNEY (AFP) — BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto would have only a "modest" share of world iron ore markets if a proposed mega-merger between the resources giants went ahead, BHP chief Marius Kloppers said on Wednesday.

As competition regulators in Europe and Australia scrutinise BHP's hostile 147 billion US dollar takeover bid for Rio, Kloppers sought to ease concerns it would create a behemoth capable of controlling global iron ore supply.

He said a combined entity would control about 25 percent of the world iron ore market and around 20 percent of iron ...