accc greenlights pilbara push for io juniors

Getting rail access is what will really put a fire under AGO. Hopefully that decision isnt too far away.

ACCC greenlights Pilbara push for iron ore juniors

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has granted conditional approval to a group of iron ore juniors to begin their push for rail haulage services and rail track access in the Pilbara.

The regulators decision will allow Atlas Iron Ltd, Brockman Resources Ltd and FerrAus Ltd to collectively negotiate on the terms and conditions, including price, with infrastructure owners.

Atlas, Brockman and FerrAus are part of the North West Iron Ore Alliance (NWIOA) which has been lobbying for greater access to the lucrative iron ore region.

The NWIOA seeks to engage in collective negotiations with BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals Group and any similar provider in future (the service providers), the regulator said

To enable the ACCC to assess the ongoing competitive impact of the proposed arrangements, authorisation has been granted subject to conditions that ensure the ACCC is kept informed of changes to the parties involved in the proposed collective negotiations.

Participation in the collective negotiations is voluntary for both iron ore producers and the service providers.

The decision comes after the ACCC in February made a draft determination, proposing the Alliance members be given authorisation to collectively negotiate.

"We are extremely happy with the decision," a spokeswoman for the Alliance said of the latest announcement.

The Pilbara is a resource rich area, but some miners have had difficulties transporting the resources over the huge distances to port for shipping to overseas steel mills.

Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton have however previously said there was no excess capacity to allow third-party rail access.

While unable to comment on the latest decision by the ACCC, a Rio Tinto spokesman said the company's Pilbara operations were already running at plate capacity.

The ACCC authorisation to negotiate was needed by the Alliance members so they could jointly negotiate without fear of breaching the Trade Practices Act.

"Participation in the collective negotiations is voluntary for both iron ore producers and the service providers," the ACCC said.