Copra Price

New Guinea Planters Await Information

OWING to general elections and the disturbed state of politics in Aus tralia and Britain, there still is some uncertainty about the price which South Pacific planters are going to get for copra, under the agreement with Britain, dur ing the year 1950.

Towards the end of 1949 (the first com plete year of the 9-years guarantee given by the British Department of Food) Britain announced that the 1950 price would be somewhat less than 1949. Gov ernment officials and planters in the South Pacific apparently were prepared to accept this.

But Ceylon—which produces the best copra and the largest amount of copra in the British Empire—would not agree. A delegation from the British Ministry of Food flew to Ceylon in November. Bar gaining went on for a week. The British delegation would not offer more than £5 under the 1949 price, and this for 1950 only. Ceylon would not accent this.

The Colombo correspondent of the Crown Colonist reported on December 3 that the talks had broken down and that, commencing in January, the Ceylon copra market would be free. The corres pondent added that fresh coconuts were bringing phenomenal prices—200,000 nuts had been exported to Britain at 514 rupees per 1,000 nuts.

Following this breakdown, the British MOF price to Fiji for 1950 was revised to £48, / 10/- stg, (£53/14/3) and this has been accepted by all interests in Fiji and the High Commission territories.

Since December, Ceylon copra has been selling in a free market for about £6O stg. (£75 Australian) per ton.

The point made by Ceylon—and various other critics—is that the British guaran teed price of around £4B or £5O stg. is so far under world parity that the British may possibly be able to re-sell South Pacific copra to America and make a profit in dollars. The free market price— that is, the American price, which is based on gold—is reported variously to be be tween £7O and £B5 Australian per ton, which is at least 25 per cent, more than Britain has been paying.

MEANWHILE, Australian planters in New Guinea are receiving the British MOF price of £4B stg. at Territories port, which was the price that ruled in 1949.

Although there is a new Australian Government in office, the usual veil of bureaucratic coyness obscures the copra market position, and no one knows whether there has been any negotiation between Australia (which, through the Production Control Board, takes over all New Guinea copra) and Britain (which buys all the surplus copra from Aus tralia, under the MOF plan) regarding the price for 1950.

The British-Australian contract cover ing copra was made in March, 1949, and was retrospective to January 1; so it is presumed that nothing is to be done about the 1950 price until March.

But events in other parts of the world seem to give New Guinea planters a pretty clear indication that their copra price for 1950 will be at least £4B stg. per ton, less Australian deductions. Tt could quite properly be more.

There still is no indication from Can berra of whether the Australian deduc tions will continue to include the £5 or £6 per ton for “stabilisation,” as in Mr.

Ward’s day; or of what is to be done with the “stabilisation fund” of £400,000 or £500,000.

It is expected that a statement cover ing the whole position will be made in Australia within the coming month.