THE Kimberley Cotton Company (KCC) has reached a key milestone in raising funds to construct a multi-user cotton gin in Kununurra.
Shareholder capital raising, along with $34 million provided by the Australian Government's Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF), has been achieved to complete the finance required for this significant and long-awaited project.
The project is supported by key shareholders Kimberley Agricultural Investment Pty Ltd, Prime Grain Pty Ltd and ASX listed Namoi Cotton Limited, as well as Ord River District Co-operative Ltd (ORDCO), MG Corporation and local family growers in the Ord Valley region.
Kimberley Cotton Company will now start placing orders for key ginning equipment and begin civil works on site once the necessary approvals have been attained.
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The project is expected to be completed in time for the commencement of the picking season in mid-2025 with exports of Ord cotton starting thereafter.
The gin has been designed to allow for further expansion with an initial processing capacity of up to 100,000 bales per year.
The project is forecast to deliver at least $250 million of direct public benefit to the region and facilitate a longstanding cotton industry in the Ord Valley, creating approximately 30 jobs during construction and around 43 ongoing local jobs when operational, as well as many indirect business and employment opportunities.
Extensive early research undertaken by ORDCO indicated that investment in a cotton processing facility in WA's North would underpin the expansion of the Ord cotton industry.
A local gin will enable substantial expansion of cotton production and trigger opportunities for other supply chain industries to achieve long-term economic benefits.
The gin will create onfarm, freight, logistics and processing jobs, plus providing a supplementary local-origin feed source to the pastoral cattle industry through cottonseed.
With a clean energy focus, the Ord gin will utilise hydro-electric power generated at Lake Argyle.
This substantially reduces the carbon footprint of the ginning process when compared to the majority of Australian gins powered by electricity generated from gas, coal or diesel.
By using the Ord hydro power, the gin will supply cotton lint to the market that is produced using renewable energy.
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KCC Limited chairwoman Gabi Bloecker said a local cotton gin delivered diversity to the region and would have generational economic benefits.
"Securing investment from shareholders and reaching contractual close with NAIF has been an important step which will now enable us to proceed with the construction process," Dr Bloecker said.
Spokesman for cotton grower Kimberley Agriculture Investment Pty Ltd Jim Engelke said the investment in cotton gin was the first step of establishing a significant industry within the region.
"The cotton industry offer integration with other long-established industry such as the cattle business," he said.
"The initial investment is significant, however, only the beginning of the development and investment within the region.
"The indirect business activity and employment from the initial investment is in the region of 200+ jobs in fields including freight, port and logistics, cattle feeding and husbandry, mechanical and support services.
"There will be the need to invest in enabling logistics, export facilities and the incremental increase in cattle management in the region.
"Many of these jobs will be suitable for locally based employees."
