The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will not intervene in the proposed acquisition of CSX Brisbane by Patrick the Australian Stevedore, ACCC Chairman, Professor Allan Fels, announced today.
Patricks is a container terminal operator and a bulk and general stevedore. It services all Australian ports and has container shipping facilities at Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle.
ASX Brisbane operates berth seven at the Port of Brisbane. It is 50 per cent owned by CSX World Terminals, a US owned stevedoring company which is the sole licensed stevedore providing services at the Port of Adelaide and 50 per cent owned by Utilico International Limited, an international investment company listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange.
As part of its investigation of the proposed acquisition, the ACCC conducted market inquiries with submissions being sought from competitors, customers, port authorities and industry associations.
The information collected by the ACCC suggested that CSX Brisbane would exit the industry absent the acquisition. The ACCC understands that CSX Brisbane was running well below its container terminal capacity and has incurred substantial losses over a sustained period of time.
The ACCC found that no new entrant was interested in acquiring the CSX Brisbane business.
Berth seven is approximately four hectares in area and is currently leased to CSX Brisbane under agreement with the Port of Brisbane. Patrick proposes to acquire berth seven and two cranes that are used by CSX Brisbane on that site.
The ACCC also notes that additional container terminal capacity is currently being constructed at the Port of Brisbane. This capacity will be operated under a common user principle and will not be allocated to any particular stevedore for usage, thus providing shipping customers with an alternative to using the existing stevedores at the port.
The failure of CSX Brisbane, lack of potential entrants to the Port of Brisbane and the additional berth capacity being constructed at the Port of Brisbane led the Commission to conclude that the proposed acquisition is unlikely to result in a substantial lessening of competition.