The merger of copper miners Anglo American and Teck Resources is likely to garner a careful review by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), sector lawyers and a source familiar with the matter said.

On 8 September, the London, Johannesburg and Botswana-listed British mining company Anglo American and the Toronto and New York-listed Canadian resource company Teck Resources announced they reached an agreement to combine in a merger of equals to form the Anglo Teck group.

The merged entity will be among the top five global copper producers based on attributable 2027F production data from Wood Mackenzie, according to the deal announcement. Anglo Teck will hold six world-class copper assets, alongside high-quality premium iron ore and zinc businesses.

The deal is subject to regulatory clearance in Australia, Canada, Chile, China, the EU, Japan, Mexico, Peru, South Korea, and the US, and potentially other jurisdictions in which Anglo American and/or Teck operates.

Jonathan Price, president, chief executive officer and director at Teck, said at the merger call on 9 September that China will be one of the jurisdictions (where antitrust and competition-related regulatory approvals are required) but that it is impossible to speculate at this point in time how that process will unfold.

“But ultimately, we expect to get this transaction over the line,” Price said.

A spokesperson at Anglo American told this news service the company is confident the transaction will not raise any anti-competitive concerns in any jurisdiction.

Market for red metal

Copper is a strategically important asset in China, with the country becoming increasingly reliant on imports of the red metal in recent years, according to an academic paper by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNMIA) in April 2025. China’s copper ore reserves only accounts for 4.18% of global reserves, a report by Minmetals Securities in March 2025 showed.

Due to China’s shortage of its own copper resources and a heavy reliance on imports, Chinese copper production companies lack much leverage to negotiate better prices on the global copper market, a report by Qianji Investment Bank showed.

The deal will likely attract attention from domestic third parties, including downstream customers and industry associations, sector lawyers noted.

A source close to the CNMIA confirmed they are aware of the deal and will communicate with SAMR in due time.

Upon completion, the deal will see Anglo Teck become the fifth-largest company in global copper production, following Codelco, BHP, Freeport, and Zijin Mining, the deal’s investor presentation noted.

The combined copper output of Anglo American and Teck was 1.22 million tonnes in 2024, according to Galaxy Futures’ report in July 2025.

As the global copper production in 2024 was around 23 million tonnes (Minmetals report), the combined share of Anglo Teck was around 5.3%.

The spokesperson at Anglo American said Anglo Teck takes less than 5% of global copper production.

Comparable drill down

The Anglo Teck deal shares some similarities to the Xstrata/Glencore deal, the source familiar with the matter said. The above sector lawyers noted the Anglo Teck may be subject to remedies in China, though not necessarily structural remedies as was the case with Xstrata/Glencore. Some behavioral commitments on supply could potentially suffice, the lawyers said, as the combined market share is not as high as that of Xstrata/Glencore.

Xstrata/Glencore was conditionally cleared by China’s Ministry of Commerce, the then merger control regulator, in April 2013 after a year-long review.

In Xstrata/Glencore, deal parties held a combined share of 7.6% in the global production of copper concentrate and a 9.3% stake in the global supply of copper concentrate. Deal parties took up 17.8% in the market of copper concentrate imports to China. The deal’s remedies included a divesture of the Chile-based copper mine asset Las Bambas post the deal, with the deal parties promising to maintain certain transaction conditions in terms of supply and price.

Teck did not respond to a request for comment. SAMR does not comment on ongoing deals.