The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will not intervene in the proposed acquisition of bulk liquid terminals in the ports of Brisbane and Burnie from Craig Mostyn & Co Pty Ltd by Pacific Terminals (Australia) Pty Ltd, ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.
Pacific Terminals and Craig Mostyn both provide customers with tallow and vegetable oil storage in their bulk liquid storage terminals in Brisbane and Tasmania. They are the only providers of waterfront storage for these products in Brisbane. Pacific Terminals also provides storage for hazardous liquids.
"The major issues in our review were the ongoing viability of Craig Mostyn's Brisbane terminal and whether suitable land is likely to become available in the Port of Brisbane for a new entrant," Mr Samuel said.
"Market inquiries revealed that there are a number of potential entrants wishing to provide bulk liquid storage in Brisbane in competition with the merged entity if they can obtain suitable land, and inquiries amongst owners of land in the Port of Brisbane also suggested a strong prospect that land will become available to new entrants in the near future. These factors are likely to act as a constraint on Pacific Terminals post-transaction."
The ACCC also took into account the fact that the owners of Craig Mostyn's leased sites in Brisbane and Burnie have decided to allocate the land to purposes other than bulk liquid storage. In Burnie, Craig Mostyn's lease has already expired, while in Brisbane the ACCC understands it will end in 2009. Therefore, it appears unlikely that the terminals (whether owned by Craig Mostyn or another company) would continue to effectively compete with Pacific Terminals in the future, even if the acquisition did not proceed.
For these reasons, the ACCC formed the view that the proposed acquisition is unlikely to substantially lessen competition in any of the markets for tallow and vegetable oil storage with access to shipping. The ACCC will be publishing a Public Competition Assessment in due course, which will be available on the ACCC website, under Mergers.