Australian regulator okays Newcastle coal access pact

Australia's anti-competition regulator has made a final ruling that allows 10 coal producers to collectively negotiate with the port of Newcastle on terms and conditions of access for coal exports, including prices. The final determination ruling today follows a draft authorisation issued in June.

The New South Wales (NSW) Minerals Council and 10 coal producers will be allowed to collectively negotiate the terms and conditions, including prices, of access to the port of Newcastle for the export of coal and other minerals until 30 September 2030, under the ruling from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

"The ACCC believes that collective bargaining is likely to generate public benefits, including enabling coal producers to have greater input into the terms and conditions of access and increasing transparency around capital expenditure plans and cost allocation at the port," ACCC commissioner Stephen Ridgeway said.

Newcastle is the largest thermal coal exporting port in Australia.

This would ultimately provide greater certainty over the delivered price of Hunter Valley coal, more timely resolution of industry-wide issues and facilitate more efficient investment decisions across the industry, Ridgeway said.

Coal producers and the port of Newcastle can opt in or out of collective negotiations at any time, the ACCC said.

The 10 producers that export coal through Newcastle are Glencore Coal, Yancoal Australia, Peabody Energy Australia, Bloomfield Collieries, Centennial Coal, Whitehaven Coal, Malabar Coal, Hunter Valley Energy Coal, Idemitsu and MACH Energy.

The port of Newcastle was privatised by the NSW state government in 2014. The port operates under a long-term lease arrangement with the government. There are three coal export terminals at Newcastle, with the 66mn t/yr Newcastle Coal Infrastructure terminal operated by a consortium led by UK-Australian resources firm BHP. The 120mn t/yr Kooragang and 25mn t/yr Carrington terminals are operated by Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS), which has Switzerland-based trading and mining firm Glencore among its largest shareholders.

Newcastle shipped 11.33mn t of coal in July, down from 14.32mn t in June and from 15.73mn t in July 2019, according to official port data that supported initial shipping data collected by Argus. This was the lowest level shipped by Newcastle since November 2018 when a derailment affected deliveries to the port.

By Kevin Morrison