Markets

Far East Copra

How War is Twisting the Markets

BECAUSE a system of export licensing affected the sale of Dutch East Indies copra to Japan, Japanese copra buyers recently have been busy in the Philippines market, and Philippines copra prices (usually controlled by the United States market demand) showed a rising tendency.

More recently, export restrictions against countries of the Axis or friendly to the Axis have been clamped on by the Philippines Administration, and there are reports that this has affected the Philippines-Japan copra trade.

The following (from that most authori tative journal, “Par Eastern Survey”, of April 21, 1941) has considerable signifi cance:— “The entrance of the Soviet Union into the Philippine coconut oil market in the last few months has attracted particular attention. The USSR, whose total pur chases in the Philippines have heretofore been insignificant, has suddenly become the fourth most important customer for coconut oil. Quite apart from its food value and general industrial usefulness, coconut oil is of strategic importance now because of its use in the manufacture of explosives. The Soviet Union normally does not import vegetable oils, and its last cotton crop was record-breaking, thus providing an unusually high produc tion of cottonseed oil. The general conclusion therefore is that these pur chases are intended for reshipment to Germany.

“If it were not for the possibility of this leak into Germany, the blockade and other effects of the war would seem to have been quite successful in cutting off that market from Philippine goods. (Before the European war, Germany was taking over 1 per cent, of total Philippine exports.) Since the end of November, 1939, no exports have gone from the Philippines to Germany, although some imports have been received from that source. Before the outbreak of the Euro pean war, Germany was buying Manila hemp Clearly 5 per cent, of the total hemp export in 1938), copra (over 2 per cent.), copra meal or cake (22 per cent.), coconut oil, other fibres, gums and resins, and some chrome ore. The other Axis partner, Italy, has not been an important purchaser of Philippine goods, although she has taken small quantities of hemp and other fibres. Details for the last two years are not available, but total Philip pine exports to Italy increased somewhat in 1939 and rose by 66 per cent in 1940.”