PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Miner Glencore has struck a A$.1.4-billion deal to divest of its rail coal haulage business in the New South Wales Hunter Valley.
The 40-million-tonne-a-year Glencore Rail (GRail) business has been sold to Genesee & Wyoming Australia, which will continue to service the majority of Glencore’s coal haulage requirements in the Hunter Valley under a 20-year contract.
The sale, which is subject to Foreign Investment Review Board approval, formed a "significant part" of Glencore’s debt reduction programme, the company said on Thursday.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission previously expressed concern about the sector, saying the sale of the assets was a rare opportunity to introduce competition in the rail business.
"The Hunter Valley coal haulage market appears to have high barriers to entry, so we would expect the addition of a third competitor to have a significant effect upon the market," commission chairperson Rod Sims said in a statement.