World Copra Situation

May be Affected by Liberation of Philippines

SINCE World War II commenced in September, 1939, the world’s copra industry has undergone some extra ordinary changes; and the most recent development, caused by the liberation of the Philippines archipelago by the Ameri cans, is now under way.

Prior to the war, the world depended for its supply of coconut oil primarily upon the Netherlands Indies, Ceylon, Malaya, and the Philippines archipelago.

Supplies of copra came also from the various Pacific Islands groups, East Africa and from the West Indies—but these represented a small proportion of the whole. In the last complete year for which statistics are available (1938) the production of copra in the various regions was as follows:

When the European War came in 1939, and the Germans over-ran most of Europe in 1940, a great portion of the world’s copra market disappeared. Bri tain was prepared to take all the copra that could be shipped to her; but the amount, of course, was limited by the ships available. Always, as a matter of policy, the US absorbed most of the Philippines production, and in 1939-41 the US continued to take the Philippines quota.

This meant that the production of the copra regions, apart from the Philippines, was practically without a market, and the outlook in 1939-41 was very grim indeed. All sorts of extraordinary mea sures were taken by the nations con cerned to assist the copra industry and to store as much as possible of the pro ducts of the coconut palm.

BUT in January, 1942, the situation again changed—this time almost overnight. The Japanese very quickly over-ran the Philippines, Malaya, the Netherlands Indies.

The position then was that while prac tically the whole non-European world wanted copra, the only copra supplies available were those from Ceylon, the Polynesian section of the Pacific Islands, East Africa, and the West Indies—a very limited production indeed. Copra, which had been a drug in the market until the end of 1941, became extremely valuable from the beginning of 1942—and has remained so.

NOW, the position is changing again.

As the European and Pacific coun tries are liberated, there comes from each place an acute and growing demand for vegetable oil, which is a valuable foodstuff—and the product of the coco nut is in that category. Copra is wanted just as urgently in- Europe to-day as it is in America and in Australia. Even if the whole normal production of 1939 were available it still could be sold, and would continue to be sold, at high prices.

But the only copra producing countries which have been liberated so far are a few of the Pacific Islands, and the Philip nines archipelago. Britain, for years, has bought all the copra that Ceylon could supply, but has been obliged reluctantly to permit considerable quantities of Ceylon copra to come to Australia to meet urgent war needs. America has been taking every available ton of Pacific Islands and West Indies copra, but her needs have been very far in excess of the supply. rE latest available information is that United States economic officials have gone into the Philippines Islands, right on the heels of the troops, and immediately are nutting into operation all available machinerv for the produc tion of copra there.

Coconut plantations in the Philippines have not been seriously damaged by the war. There has been a good deal of local destruction, of course, but, generally speaking, it is believed that the archi pelago will very soon get back into worth while production. Indications are that the whole of the coconut oil which can be produced in the Philippines will go to USA.

Survey of world conditions leaves no doubt that a very eager market for copra will exist throughout the world for some years to come, and all coconut planters should experience an era of high prices.

All stocks of manufactured goods based on vegetable oils were exhausted years ago; the demand for this type of vege table oil is bound to continue for a long time, in view of the general food situa tion; and all the alternatives to coconut oil, which were severely embarrassing the copra market in the years before the war, appear to be in short supply.

Main supplies of soya bean oil came from the Far East which, of course, is suffering the maximum disturbance of war. Whale oil was an important factor, but the Antarctic whaling industry has been virtually suspended for some years.

There are reports that British, Norwegian and American whaling concerns are pre paring to hurry off to the Antarctic as soon as conditions permit—but Japanese whale oil nroduction. which was a con siderable factor in 1939-40, can be writ ten off.

MEANWHILE, an extraordinary situa tion exists in relation to the chief copra-producing territorial in the South Pacific.

All the territories from the New

Tons.

Netherlands Indies . 552,123 Philippines . 342,965 Malaya . 166,177 Ceylon . 72,265 South Pacific Islands . 220,000 East Africa. West Indies, etc. . . 45,000

Hebrides eastwards, especially including Fiji, have been getting the full benefit of the high copra prices during recent years; but the important copra-producing territories of New Guinea and the Solo mon Is. have, of course, been paralysed by invasion.

It would have been thought that the British and Australian authorities would have been eager to get the coconut plan tations of New Guinea and the Solomons back into production, under the driving force of private enterprise, so that the economic rehabilitation of those war torn territories could be assisted.

But nothing of the kind seems to have happened. On the contrary, the parts of the Mandated Territory and the British Solomons which contain the coconut plantations remain under military rule and the military administrations do not seem particularly interested in copra production. They simply fail to realise the urgency of the situation.

Military officers and various officials responsible to the Army have taken charge of plantations in both territories and are attempting to carry on copra production in accordance with wishes expressed in Canberra and Suva. But it is the same old story. Here and there an official shows some energy—but the majority simply regard the work of pro ducing copra as a wearisome Government job at which they take their time and conform to a thousand regulations.

CANBERRA proposes to put a new Pro visional Civil Government in charge of Papua and the area of New Guinea south of the Markham. It just happens that in that area there are com paratively few coconut plantations. • The coconut plantations that really produce copra in New Guinea are all north, or west, or east of the Markham River, in the region which is still under military control and which is likely to remain so.

Gazelle Peninsula, New Ireland, and the east coast of Bougainville are still in the hands of the Japanese. But there are substantial coconut producing plantations in areas that have been freed, especially on the north coast of the Huon Penin sula, around Madang, and in various parts of New Britain.

One would have imagined that the Australian Government, being even now under the obligation to import consider able amounts of expensive copra from Ceylon, in the west, and from Fiji, in the east, would have done everything possible to encourage the plantation owners to return to these areas in New Guinea and get their plantations back into maximum production. The contrary is the case.

The plantations that have been freed from the invasion are in the hands of petty officials, and the military adminis tration is reported to be putting every possible obstacle in the way of the return of civilian plantation owners.

It was hoped that the appointment by the Federal Government of a new civil administrator would have changed this situation. Unfortunately, the area that is going under civil administration — namely, south of the Markham River — has few coconut plantations, rE situation in the Solomon Is. is even more baffling and exasperat ing. The only economic use the Solomons ever* have had has been the production of copra—there are some very fine plantations there. But here, for reasons never explained, the British authorities have refused to permit the return of civilian coconut planters and, for the most part, the plantations are in charge of Army or Administration officials.

Of course, even if civilian planters were allowed to return to the Solomons, they probably would be handicapped by

their inability to obtain labour. Our information is that every available native labourer in the Solomons has been gath ered into the Labour Corps and is at the disposal of the more or less military administration.

THIS probably will happen—that while British and Australian officials are dithering around the subject of copra production, in characteristic fashion, the Americans will very rapidly organise the Philippines coconut production to meet their urgent needs, and the Philippines will be enjoying some economic benefit long before New Guinea or the Solomons come into line —although the Solomons and New Guinea were liberated long before the Philippines.