By Melanie Burton MELBOURNE, Oct 8 (Reuters)– Australia’s competitors regulatory authority claimed on Monday the Port of Newcastle need to minimize its costs for ships getting in the port to bring coal for Glencore, in a big win for the international miner.

The Australian Competition and also Consumer Commission claimed Port of Newcastle Operations Pty Ltd (PNO) must reduce its existing price by around 20 percent to A$ 0.61 per gross tonne, backdated to 2016. The port claimed it would certainly oppose the choice.

“PNO proposed large increases to the current price, but the ACCC found that a reduction in the price for using the shipping channel was appropriate,” ACCC Commissioner Cristina Cifuentes claimed in a declaration.

In the training course of the settlement, Newcastle port informed the ACCC that the fee for coal ships getting in the port must be boosted to $1.36 per tonne for this year. Glencore sent the fee must be minimized to $0.41 per tonne.

The port claimed it was let down by the choice.

“We will use all legal avenues available to contest the decision. We will be lodging a request for review with the Australian Competition Tribunal,” it claimed.

Glencore decreased to comment.

The Port of Newcastle gives the only readily practical ways of exporting coal from the Hunter Valley area and also is collectively possessed by China Merchants Port Holdings Co Ltd, which took a risk in February, and also Australia’s Infrastructure Fund.

After being privatised in 2014, the port boosted the fee for coal ships by about 40 percent to $0.69 per tonne in January 2015, and also later on increased the fee to $0.76 per tonne. (Reporting by Melanie Burton; added coverage by Nikhil Kurian Nainan in Bengaluru Editing by Joseph Radford and also Richard Pullin)

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