Australia’s national science agency has produced a feasibility blueprint aimed at reviving domestic spinning mills, a manufacturing link that vanished from the country’s textile supply chain in the 1980s after import tariffs were scrapped.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) said the study, funded by the cotton industry and the federal government through the Cotton Research and Development Corporation, gives companies a template to build business cases for re-establishing mills that twist raw cotton, wool or synthetic fibres into yarn.
Report author Stuart Gordon, a senior principal research scientist at CSIRO, said the document offers “a reasonably objective template” that firms can scale to their own needs. The study weighed factors including electricity costs and workforce skills, and flagged Toowoomba, Brisbane, Narrabri, Dubbo, Sydney and Melbourne as potential mill locations, comparing proximity to raw fibre against proximity to manufacturers and export ports.
The research focused on short-staple spinning, the technique mainly used for cotton but which can also process synthetics, recycled fibres, hemp and a shorter type of wool. Michell Wool general manager Gaynor Scott said her firm currently has no option but to send shorter wool overseas for spinning, and a domestic mill would open export opportunities and strengthen supply-chain traceability.
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Cotton Australia chief executive Adam Kay said automation has reduced labour needs at modern mills, leaving energy costs as the main hurdle to a local return. Lower power prices, he said, would make Australian spinning “certainly something we’d love to see.”
The Australian Fashion Council welcomed the blueprint but said manufacturers need assurance of steady demand before committing capital. Chief executive Sam Delgos said government procurement of uniforms and defence apparel could provide that certainty, noting there is currently no public data on what share of such contracts go to Australian producers.
A finance department spokesperson said commonwealth procurement policy already includes measures favouring small and medium Australian businesses, adding that the government continues to engage with industry on the issue.
Textile, clothing and footwear manufacturing in Australia contracted sharply after tariff protections were removed in the 1980s, and spinning is now the only stage of the value chain with no domestic capacity, industry groups say. Advocates argue restoring it would keep more value, jobs and traceability onshore rather than ceding that stage to overseas processors, though they acknowledge the investment case still hinges on energy costs and guaranteed buyers.