11:01 AM EDT, 05/09/2024 (MT Newswires) -- BHP Group's ( BHP ) intention to take over rival Anglo American has raised concerns among Japanese steelmakers worried about the miner getting significant control over the global supply of steelmaking raw material coking coal, Reuters reported Thursday.

BHP bid $38.8 billion for Anglo American in late April. Anglo American rejected BHP's proposal, but BHP is considering making a revised bid, according to Reuters.

Representatives of Japanese steelmakers, who buy most of their coking coal requirements from Australia, expressed their concerns during a recent meeting with Queensland government officials, the report said, citing two unnamed people familiar with the matter. They are worried about the deal likely concentrating the world's top quality coking coal mines in the state's Bowen Basin in the hands of BHP, Reuters reported.

The Japanese steelmakers "will take measures to ensure that further oligopolisation will not impede sound price formation and stable supply," the report quoted a spokesperson for Japan's JFE Steel as saying, without elaborating.

BHP and Anglo American declined to comment, the report said. They did not immediately reply to MT Newswires' requests for comment.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

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