NSW Ports could have a monopoly for moving containers in the state for 50 years after the Federal Court threw out the competition watchdog’s attempts to stop compensation being paid to Port Botany if the Port of Newcastle develops a rival container terminal, ACCC chairman Rod Sims has warned.

“It’s a real setback for competition, it’s a setback for productivity, it’s a setback for the NSW economy,” Mr Sims told The Australian Financial Review.