No Dollars to Buy The Surplus

Philippines Copra Falls Sharply

IT is possible to see, in a sudden sharp decline in the market for two Pacific products—copra and trocas —a reflec tion of the “dollar crisis.”

Private advice from Manila states that copra prices in the Philippines have dropped from £72 down to about £32 a ton (Australian currency).

Reason for this phenomenal decrease is said to be the fact that the US market has reached saturation point as a result of the strenuous efforts made by Filipino producers after the war. High pressure tactics to rehabilitate the damaged planta tions were introduced by employing many thousands of Japanese POW’s, with the result that the pre-war annual copra pro duction was increased by about 25,000 tons. US markets were unable to absorb this surplus.

Non-dollar countries were buying Philippines’ copra until the world financial crisis developed. Now, because that copra has to be paid for in dollars, and the sterling countries are short of dollars, the Philippines price tends to slump. This, in turn, may pull down the copra price pre vailing in sterling countries —which was phenomenally high, anyway.

Trocas Under A Cloud.

The collapse of the trocas market (it Is now about £6O a ton, Sydney) is due, according to experts, to the absence of tne usual pre-war market for this com modity in Japan, France and Central Europe, The Australian demand for trocas is limited owing to the very restricted button industry there. Unstable labor conditions in Australia do not favour the expansion of the industry.

The sterling-dollar crisis seems to have made this already uncertain market even more dull.

A demand from the limited button making factories in Australia and America lifted the price for a time; but their needs seem to have been met. There is an enormous, world-wide demand for the finished article; but. with the limited factories available, the tendency seems to be to turn elsewhere—to plastics, for ex ample—for requirements.

By the time Australian and Ameri can shell-workers have increased their capacity, or the European and Jap factories come back into operation, the world-market for finished shell buttons, etc., may have been wiped out in favour of other products.

If the Australian Government had spent some of its lavish millions on establisning shell-button-making from trocas in New Guinea, instead of wasting them on im practical Fuzzy-Wuzzy policies, some real and permanent good might have been achieved. As it is, the trocas industry, one of the best stand-bys of the Pacific planter and trader, is in danger of dis appearing altogether.