News: FXJ UPDATE 1-Australia's Fairfax to share print costs with rival News Corp

(Adds details on deal, context)

July 18 (Reuters) - Publisher Fairfax Media (FXJ) said on Wednesday it had agreed with rival News Corp's NWSA.O Australian unit to collaborate on printing newspapers to curb costs.

The publisher of the Sydney Morning Herald and Australian Financial Review newspapers said the move would result in the closures of its print centres in Beresfield, New South Wales, and Ormiston in Queensland state.

The agreement was expected to result in an annualised benefit of about A$15 million ($11.1 million), Fairfax said in a statement.

The companies publish Australia's two national papers and the major metropolitan dailies in nearly every state capital.

A decade ago, before print ad revenue collapsed, such a printing alliance would have been unthinkable. ($1 = 1.3548 Australian dollars)