New Fiji Copra Price
p. 11 · Read in the full issue
Equal To £A6O Per Ton During 1949
THE offer of the British Ministry of Food to buy the total exportable sur plus of coconut products from Fiji for the period 1949-1957 inclusive, has been formally accepted, in accordance with the wishes of the great majority of copra producers in the Colony.
The agreement will come* into force on January, 1949, and will continue until De cember 31, 1957.
The price of copra in Fiji for 1949 will be £4B (sterling) per ton FOB; and for each subsequent year this price will be negotiated before the end of the preced ing year, but in no case will the price be more than 10 per cent, (to the nearest 5/-) higher or lower than that of the preceding year.
Forty-eight pounds Sterling is equal to about £54 Fijian and about £6O Australian.
Australian Comparison
THE Australian Production Control Board now pays New Guinea copra producers a price equal to £4O/17/6 A, m Rabaul. The PCB. in turn, pays freight to Australia, 61/6; amount to f-^in^ lsa^10n Func k £B/5/-; handling, £5/10/- (a total of £2O 2/6); and it sells the copm in Sydney for about £A6I. ere L h , as been some indication that tne Australian authorities propose a fixed price over a term of years, similar to the British system announced in Fiji; but there had been no official announcement up to December 6.
Sir Maynard and Lady Hedstrom, of Fiji, were in Sydney at the end of November, They expected to leave on December 8 by a Swedish vessel for South Africa, where they will spend a leisurely holiday. Lady Hedstrom is much im proved in health.