Anglo American Warns EU It Will Close Brazil Nickel Unit If Sale to MMG Is Blocked
The threat frames European regulatory scrutiny of Chinese mineral acquisitions as carrying a direct cost to regional supply security, not just to the seller.
Anglo American has told European Union regulators that it will shut its nickel mining operation in Brazil if the bloc blocks the planned sale of that unit to Chinese state-linked company MMG, according to Folha de S.Paulo, citing Reuters, October 7, 2026.
Anglo American's chief operating officer is scheduled to present that position directly to EU regulators on Thursday, October 8, according to the same Folha de S.Paulo report. The executive is expected to argue that MMG is the only credible buyer for the asset.
The European Commission is reviewing the transaction over concerns that approving it could redirect nickel supply away from European industrial consumers and toward China, according to the Folha de S.Paulo report. Nickel is a critical input for electric vehicle battery manufacturing and stainless steel production.
MMG Limited is a Melbourne-listed mining company majority owned by China Minmetals Corporation, a state-owned enterprise under China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. The company's existing portfolio includes copper assets in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Peru, and Laos, according to MMG's publicly filed corporate disclosures.
Anglo American announced in 2023 a strategic restructuring that included divesting its nickel business as part of a broader effort to concentrate on copper, iron ore, and crop nutrients. The nickel operations in Brazil, located in the state of Goias, are among the assets targeted for sale under that plan, according to Anglo American's 2023 and 2024 annual reports filed with the London Stock Exchange.
The EU's Foreign Subsidies Regulation, which came into force in October 2023, gives the European Commission authority to investigate acquisitions where the buyer has received substantial foreign government subsidies that could distort competition in the European single market. That regulation is among the legal instruments the Commission can apply to transactions involving Chinese state-linked entities, according to the European Commission's official documentation of the regulation.
Nickel supply security has become a stated policy priority for the European Union under its Critical Raw Materials Act, adopted in March 2024, which sets targets for domestic processing and supply diversification. The act lists nickel as a strategic raw material, according to the European Commission's official text of the legislation.
Global nickel markets have experienced sustained price pressure since 2023, driven in part by a surge in Indonesian nickel output, much of it processed through Chinese-invested facilities. Benchmark nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange fell more than 40 percent between early 2023 and late 2024, according to LME published price data. That price environment has made marginal operations in higher-cost jurisdictions, including parts of Brazil, commercially difficult to sustain without a buyer.
Anglo American's closure warning, if carried out, would affect employment and tax revenue in Goias state. The scale of potential job losses and fiscal impact has not been independently verified in the source material reviewed for this report. Brazilian federal government officials had not issued a public response to the threat as of the publication of the Folha de S.Paulo report on October 7, 2026.
The EU's final decision on the MMG transaction has not been announced. The timeline for that decision and the specific legal basis under which the review is proceeding were not detailed in the available source material. What would clarify those points is a formal European Commission communication on the case, which had not been published as of October 7, 2026.
The outcome of the EU review will carry implications beyond this single transaction, as it will establish precedent for how the bloc handles acquisitions of critical mineral assets by Chinese state-linked companies in third countries that supply European markets. Similar reviews could affect other pending deals involving battery supply chain materials in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, a pattern consistent with the scope of the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act and Foreign Subsidies Regulation as described in those instruments' official texts.