World Copra Production

Statistical Review of Forty Years

THE accompanying figures, relating to the world copra market over the last forty years, are taken from the valuable annual compilation of Messrs. L. M. Fis chel Co. Ltd., of Mincing Lane, London.

It is worthy of note that these com pilations, made every year by the leading London dealers in vegetable oil seeds, do not include the production of the African or of the South Seas plantations, which statistics are said not to be available.

The table given below does not include

the exports from the Dutch ports of Sangir, Menado, Gorontalo, ‘etc. (which in-

creased from 6000 tons per annum in 1896, to about 220,000 tons in 1933) but those figures are included in the annual total.

The outstanding feature of the table is the enormous, steady growth in copra production, despite the increased output of all kinds of oil-bearing seeds which compete with copra. Since the war, copra production has more than doubled. The whole output is going into consumption, but at prices which show that the buyer is completely in the ascendant. There is

over-production, but not vast over-pro duction: a little organisation, and co operation between the copra-producing countries of the world would very soon put the copra-growers in a better position.

Year.

Java. Tons.

Macassar. Tons.

Padang. Tons.

Singapore. Tons.

Ceylon. Tons.

Philippines. Tons.

Total. Tons.

Av. price c.i.f. Europe £ s d 1896 19,511 8,770 5,778 39,440 3,677 33,468 116,644 1900 35,257 13,928 5,487 28,214 18,059 57,361 168,656 1905 107,709 25,961 6,580 58,915 17,740 49,715 286,134 1910 100,578 30,880 10,479 102,610 35,713 118,493 450,197 1914 71,191 35,659 17,739 112,579 56,318 102,521 460,346 25 12 6 1920 43,277 50,266 15,682 112,430 68.044 32,148 343,240 57 5 0 1925 29,885 80,636 27,283 149,156 113,546 146,291 615,602 29 15 0 1930 7,364 76,843 29,504 182,924 89,409 166,780 746,850 19 6 3 1931 3,848 72,982 25,214 176,810 94,579 181,438 744,901 13 10 0 1933 14,490 151,072 17.928 192,600 63,295 302,492 962,545 10 15 0 1934 3,747 147,801 17,852 167,242 105,681 346,156 958,672 8 15 0