{"id":468131,"date":"2026-02-09T08:18:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T08:18:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/468131\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T08:18:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T08:18:28","slug":"kimberley-cotton-hits-record-high-in-first-season-with-new-processing-gin-in-kununurra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/468131\/","title":{"rendered":"Kimberley cotton hits record high in first season with new processing gin in Kununurra"},"content":{"rendered":"

Western Australia’s newest cotton gin has completed its first operational season, with the final modules moving through the facility last week.<\/p>\n

Designed to process cotton from the Ord Valley, the Kimberley Cotton Gin opened in Kununurra<\/a> about 3,000 kilometres north-east of Perth in August 2025.<\/p>\n

The region’s growers planted a record-breaking 10,000 hectares of cotton in preparation, up from 2,200 hectares the previous year.<\/p>\n

New era for the Ord<\/p>\n

Kimberley Cotton Company (KCC) chair Jim Engelke said the facility processed more than 81,000 bales in its inaugural season.<\/p>\n

“It’s a good feeling to get to the end,” he said.<\/p>\n

“An excellent outcome with a lot of effort from a lot of people to make that all happen, and overall, [I’m] very pleased with where we’ve got to.”<\/p>\n

\"man<\/p>\n

Jim Engelke says the Kimberley Cotton Gin processed 81,000 bales in its first season. (ABC News: Jess Baker)<\/p>\n

The KCC, supported by Kimberley Agricultural Investment, Ord River District Cooperative, and Miriuwung Gajerrong Corporation, was formed in 2021 to lead the construction and operation of the gin.<\/p>\n

Previously, growers had to send their cotton interstate, up to 3,500km, to be processed.<\/p>\n

Lessons learned<\/p>\n

Second-generation Ord farmer and KCC investor Christian Bloecker said getting the gin off the ground was not easy, but the effort would ultimately pay off.<\/p>\n

“It keeps everything local. The jobs local, the processing and the money that comes from that local,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a way better option than sending cotton by road to Katherine or Queensland like we used to.”<\/p>\n

Although 2025 was not Mr Bloecker’s first year producing cotton, it was his biggest \u2014 in terms of area \u2014 by more than double.<\/p>\n

\"White<\/p>\n

Kimberley growers no longer have to send their cotton interstate to get processed. (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

He said he learned plenty about the crop and how to grow it well.<\/p>\n

“Definitely the aim for this year is grow shorter cotton,” Mr Bloecker said.<\/p>\n

“But there’s lots of things in terms of nutrition and irrigation, and from a supply chain point of view, how we make things work.”<\/p>\n

Looking ahead<\/p>\n

There was already cotton in the ground at Mr Bloecker’s Ord Valley farm this time last year.<\/p>\n

He delayed planting for the 2026 season due to wet weather, and hopes a deferred start might produce a shorter crop.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Christian Bloecker says he is waiting for the rain to subside before planting again. (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

Other growers began planting for the coming season before the final modules from 2025 had been processed through the Kununurra gin.<\/p>\n

Mr Engelke said Kimberley Agricultural Investment planted its first fields for the season in January.<\/p>\n

“Our anticipated plant area is very similar to last year, which is around about the 4,000-odd hectares,” he said.<\/p>\n

“For the region, I don’t exactly know, but we’re expecting somewhere around about 10,000 hectares, possibly a bit more.”<\/p>\n

Prices stagnant<\/p>\n

As producers in the north navigate the formation of their cotton industry, international cotton prices remain subdued.<\/p>\n

Cotton Australia northern manager Simone Cameron said the price of raw cotton lint was “not ideal”.<\/p>\n

“Prices have been holding around that mid-$500 per bale price for about 12-18 months,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Historically, it sits at around $600.”<\/p>\n

\"White<\/p>\n

Last season, Australia produced about 5.4 million bales of cotton, collectively worth about $3.7 billion. (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n

Ms Cameron said the cotton industry was up against the synthetic fibre industry, which was “very good” at marketing itself as cleaner and greener than natural fibres.<\/p>\n

“We do have some work to do there to help really drive that natural fibres are much better for the planet than a synthetic fibre,” she said.<\/p>\n

The decline of global cotton prices over the past year has impacted the profitability of the crop, but Mr Bloecker said it was still viable in the Kimberley.<\/p>\n

“That’s the thing about selling it on the world market, there are going to be these cycles where the price is lower,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I’d love the price to be higher, but even at $500 a bale, an industry can grow off that.”<\/p>\n

Wyndham port gateway to the world<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, growers in the Ord eagerly await the Port of Wyndham, located 100 kilometres north-west of Kununurra, gaining First Point of Entry (FPOE) status.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese granted FPOE status last year<\/a>, but the change will not come into effect until the port has the infrastructure to manage biosecurity threats.<\/p>\n

\"Cotton<\/p>\n

The Kimberley Cotton Gin has the capacity to process more than 100,000 bales annually. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)<\/p>\n

The first shipment of locally grown cotton was exported from Wyndham in October, consisting of about 60 containers, each carrying about 104 bales of cotton.<\/p>\n

Having FPOE status will allow the port to receive empty containers for immediate export and enable direct international shipping for the Kimberley cotton industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Western Australia’s newest cotton gin has completed its first operational season, with the final modules moving through the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2324,64,63,99,110955,239271,239270,239272,239273,2185,20389,45],"class_list":["post-468131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-anthony-albanese","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-cotton","tag-cotton-crop","tag-cotton-gin","tag-cotton-prices","tag-first-point-of-entry","tag-rural","tag-textiles","tag-wa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}