2024 was a huge year for the Cotton to Market program, and the cotton industry in Australia. As the year closes and we start thinking about a summer break, we take a look back at some of the highlights.
Early in the year our farmers harvested another huge cotton crop of almost 1.2 million metric tonnes, with high yields and premium quality across the regions. This cotton has all been sold into the world market, with the vast majority shipped to markets in China, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Indonesia. The soft ban on Australian cotton in China lifted, and we’re seeing a return to that market with around 25% of the crop sold in China this season.
During the harvest around 60 global and Australian brands, retailers, cotton sustainability programs and NGOs attended Camp Cotton, which kicked off with the Australian Cotton Forum in Sydney attracting over 170 people. This engagement event was a huge 2024 highlight, and a real privilege for our growers and industry to showcase their work in sustainability, research and connection to community.
Demand for Australian cotton continued to grow exponentially this year, with a 170% increase in the number of Australian cotton mark applications in 2024. The Cotton to Market team has worked tirelessly to support its 49 brand partners, training sourcing teams in our chain of custody and helping them establish Australian cotton supply chains. Importantly, many of our brand partners have connected our farmers with their consumers via marketing and social media campaigns, EDMs, catalogues and advertising.
The team travelled overseas on a number of occasions to promote the Australian cotton industry – the Better Cotton Conference, in-market visits to Bangladesh and India and the Textile Exchange Conference were all opportunities to engage globally with the textile supply chain, with farmers included in each delegation.
Closer to home the 2024 Australian Cotton Conference in August attracted the largest number of delegates ever. 2901 people from across the cotton supply chain came together on the Gold Coast to learn, share and hear from industry and external experts. The program included over 100 sessions, and it was great to see so many brands and retailers in attendance this year.
Perhaps most importantly in 2024, work commenced on the Australian Cotton Strategic Roadmap – an important piece of work to help the industry be future-ready and able to deliver the changing requirements of our customers. Traceability research, the development of a comprehensive data platform and a review of the myBMP sustainability program are underway, with 2025 set to be another exciting year of development for the Roadmap topics: sustainably-certified cotton, traceability, data, human rights and marketing/promotion.
Finally, a huge thanks to everyone who’s supported the Cotton to Market team and our work this year. Brands and retailers, NGOs, cotton sustainability programs, government, our farmers and industry organisations – this is a truly collaborative effort and we look forward to what 2025 will bring.