Wundowie charcoal iron and wood distillation plant

The Wundowie charcoal iron and wood distillation plant manufactured pig iron between 1948 and 1981 and wood distillation products between 1950 and 1977, at Wundowie, Western Australia.

Originally a state-owned enterprise, it seems not to have been incorporated as a company, during the time it was known as the Charcoal Iron and Steel Industry.

At its greatest extent, the plant comprised two blast furnaces, a metal foundry, a sawmill, retorts for charcoal production, a power plant, and a refinery for wood distillation products. The planned garden town of Wundowie, approximately 65 kilometres (40 mi) east of Perth by road and 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of Northam, was built to provide accommodation for the workers of the plant.

From 1966, the plant was privately managed by Australian National Industries, and its workers became employees of that company. The plant was sold by the government in 1974 to Agnew-Clough Ltd.

Production of iron ceased in 1981. The foundry continued in operation, under several different owners, and was still operating in 2019.

The blast furnaces at Wundowie were not the last ones to make charcoal iron in commercial quantities; as of 2013^[update] there are still charcoal-based iron and steel-making operations in Brazil.^[1][2][3]