World's Copra Production

Where It Comes From and How It Is Bought

TWO very interesting sets of figures, 4 dealing with world production and consumption of copra, are published in the British Trade Review, of January, 1937.

These tables are reproduced below, for the information of all Pacific copra in terests. Unfortunately, they do not in clude the 1936 figures. The 1935 figures are not normal, because they were af fected by the calamitous price-levels of the depression period, which caused many countries to reduce their copra production. The same applies to the 1934 and, to an extent, the 1933 production.

It probably will be found eventually that the 1936 production in the South Seas was equal, if not in excess, of the 1929 figures.

The total world production of copra to-day is in the vicinity of one million tons per annum.

Readers especially should study the second table, showing the destination of copra. They will then understand why the production of lard and cottonseed oil in America, and the economic condi tion and purchasing power of Germany and France, have such an important bearing upon the c.i.f. quotations issued weekly from London.

The tables are as follow:

Exports Of Copra By Principal

Countries

Imports Of Copra Into The Principal

Consuming Countries

(In thousand s of tons) 1929 1933 1934 1935 s8 Empire Countries:— Malaya (a) .. 112 110 96 112 Ceylon .. 102 64 105 49 New Guinea (b) 60 59 62 56 Fiji 33 23 24 26 Solomon Is. (c) 21 21 18 (d) Zanzibar 17 17 14 12 Tonga 17 11 10 12 Western Samoa 13 12 9 (d) West Indies 15 12 9 4 Papua (b) 12 10 8 9 Tanganyika 8 8 6 4 British Borneo ... 8 12 9 11 British Guiana 4 1 1 1 Foreign Countries:— Dutch E, Indies ... 488 478 411 476 Philippines ... 171 303 337 249 Mozambique ... 20 30 32 33 figure. (a) Net exports. (b) Year ending June 30. (c) Year beginning April 1. (d) Not yet available.

(In 1929 thousands of 1933 1934 tons) 1935* Empii’e Countries: — Britain 90 103 96 120 India (b) 26 31 46 Australia (a) 29 13 12 18 South Africa 4 2 3 3 Foreign Countries: — United States 255 295 183 203 France ._ 188 196 184 144 Germany 241 119 222 92 Denmark . 69 71 75 81 Netherlands 138 42 60 66 Italy 35 38 51 49 Norway 23 34 32 35 Czechoslovakia 27 36 38 33 Sweden 5 18 16 26 figure, (a) Year ending June 30. (b) Less than 500 tons.