History and Structure

Established in 2005, ProClass was set up in response to cotton growers and merchants wanting a truly independent classing service. Goondiwindi was chosen as the site for operations as it is a major regional centre which is located at the junction of several major highways servicing the Australian cotton belt, and within a 250 km radius to the bulk of the industry's ginning capacity. 

The establishment of ProClass has resulted in a rationalisation of classing services in Australia, meaning we have seen a move away from the many merchant owned facility towards there now being only three classing facilities nationwide. ProClass is the dominant entity, with a national market share of approximately 70%.

The shareholding of our business is drawn from several cotton industry sectors:

• 40% Cotton growers - who are represented by a group of six growers from six cotton regions from Central Queensland to the Macquarie Valley encompassing:
  • Hamish & Mary McIntyre (St George/Dirranbandi)
  • Geoff & Toni Hewitt (Darling Downs)
  • The Corish Family (MacIntyre Valley)
  • The Cush Family (Gwydir, Namoi, MacIntyre Valleys and South West Qld)
  • Jono & David Phelps (Namoi Valley)
  • The McAlary Family (Macquarie Valley) 
• 40% Cotton merchants - represented by Louis Dreyfus Cotton Commodities and Queensland Cotton;
• 20% Cotton classers - represented by an independent international cotton controller and classing firm - Wakefield Inspection Services - which has existing interests in cotton classing and controlling all around the world; and ProClass management.

The structure of our company is specifically designed so that no one shareholder or shareholder group has a controlling stake in the business. This means that all classing decisions are made unencumbered by bias or coercion.