Products Of The South Seas

Copra Prices Remain at Low Level

NO improvement has been recorded during the month in the price of copra. In fact, the market dropped to £l4/5/- for South Sea sun-dried in Lon don, and for the last two weeks has remained at this low level.

Advice has been received that Cebu copra—the best brand of Phillipine copra—has been sold at San Francisco at 2i cents per lb. This is a new low record and, according to an authority on Phillipine Island copra, is lower than the price at which the exportation of copra from there might be seriously cur tailed. There are, therefore, grounds for hope that copra is now at such a low' price that bedrock values have been reached.

However, Messrs. Brown & Joske, of Suva, in their weekly bulletin, state that there is no indication or promise of any marked improvement in price —nor is there likely to be any—until

American and European employment and purchasing conditions materially improve.

The benefit to producers from the existing exchange rate is dealt with elsewhere. Unfortunately, for copra planters in Fiji, the exchange pre mium United Kingdom-Fiji fell at the end of last month from approximately 24 per cent, to approximately 7 per cent. This was equal to a drop of about 33/- per ton.

As stated on page 1 of this issue, the editor of The Pacific Islands Monthly (Mr. R. W. Robson), during his visit to London last month, made a careful investigation of the copra mar ket. The result of his observations will be published in a series of articles com mencing in next issue. These will give particular attention to the probable future of the copra industry.