Queensland, Australia
September 15, 2003

from Cotton Communications

More than 200 delegates from 15 countries shared their concerns and solutions for fibre quality issues at the recent Australian Cotton Shippers Association conference on the Gold Coast.

The conference heard from overseas speakers, including the president of the Liverpool Cotton Association, Nick Earlam, and cotton specialist with Marks & Spencer in the United Kingdom Graham Burden.

Other keynote speakers included Tayuth Sriyuksiri, a director of the Thai Textile Manufacturing Association, Mato Grosso (Brazil) cotton grower Chris Ward, and ANZ Bank chief economist Saul Eslake.

ACSA chairman Dorcen Walters said Australian cotton’s niche and reputation as a reliable supplier of high quality cotton had been undermined by the drought and ancillary temperature extremities, and management issues associated with these factors.

He said there was also some evidence of longer-term trends impinging on Australia’s outstanding reputation as a consistent producer of high quality cotton, which served as a wake-up call for a renewed focus on fibre quality issues.

While acknowledging that the majority of the Australian crop could generally be delivered within the specifications and parameters demanded by its mill customers, Mr Walters said competitor countries were continually improving their quality standards, and Australian could not afford to be complacent.

He said the conference had provided a forum for discussion and debate on these issues, and had established an important conduit for information to flow on a two-way basis from growers through to spinners.

He acknowledged the role of the CSIRO textile and fibre technology division’s on-going mill surveys benchmarking Australian cotton against cotton from its major competitors, under a project supported by the Australian Cotton CRC.

Mr Walters commended spinning mills in Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and Australia for their collaboration and cooperation in these trials.

He said regular monitoring of these results would greatly assist the Australian cotton industry by flagging potential problems, and enabling researchers, growers, consultants, extension agencies, ginners and merchants to respond in a positive, timely and mutually beneficial manner.

Countries represented at the Conference included Australia, China, Indonesia, Thailand, USA, Brazil, Switzerland, Japan, Taiwan, Pakistan, India, Singapore, the UK, Germany and South Korea.

Delegates included growers, consultants, research agencies and researchers, ginners, spinners, merchants, garment makers, shipping, rail and road transport, port authorities, risk management, banking, finance and insurance agencies, machinery and equipment manufacturers, seed companies, fibre inspection agencies and retailers.