Australia's Competition Regulator Allows Wiggins Producers To Bargain With QR National

Coal producers using the planned Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal will be able to collectively bargain with rail haulage company QR National Ltd. (QRN.AU), Australia's competition regulator said Tuesday.

Wiggins Island, owned by a consortium of 16 coal producers from Queensland's Bowen Basin, plans to export up to 80 million tons a year from its site near the port of Gladstone, with first exports due in 2014.

Access from the Bowen Basin mines to the planned A$5 billion port will be via the Moura and Blackwater rail systems operated by QR Network, the coal freight division of the newly-listed state rail operator QR National.

Collective bargaining approvals such as the one issued by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission are routinely granted to producer-owned infrastructure groups in Australia's coal industry.

"The ACCC considers these arrangements will result in significant transaction cost savings for the parties involved and help to avoid possible delays in the terminal's construction and new coal export earnings," said ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuel.

Wiggins Island's main consortium members include subsidiaries of Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN), Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. Ltd. (YZC) and Wesfarmers Ltd. (WES.AU).

-By David Fickling, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]