Islands Produce

(Unless otherwise stated, quotations are in Australian currency)

Cocoa

Cocoa beans imported into Australia from the Pacific Islands come mostly from New Guinea and the New Hebrides and are purchased almost wholly by the Commonwealth Chocolate and Confectionery Manufacturers’ Association, The buying price is based on the ruling rate of Accra beans (produced mainly in the Gold Coast Colony, West Africa). Prices for the 1950 crop show a tendency to fluctuate—late in March they dropped to around £2OO Stg., but recovered early in April.

Accra (quotation by Colyer, Watson Pty., Ltd., Sydney): £217/10/- sterling (equivalent to £271/17/6 Aust.), c.i.f., Sydney.

Western Pacific cocoa beans were quoted on the Sydney market in mid-April, at; — New Guinea; £212/10/-A per ton, ex wharf.

New Hebrides: £2i7/10/-A per ton, ex wharf.

Most of Western Samoa’s cocoa production goes to USA, where it is allocated by the Inter national Control Board. The price in Apia fell disastrously last year (to £llO Samoan per ton, f.o.b), but later recovered. In mid-April, Samoan beans were quoted at £220 Samoan per ton. f.0.b., after being £2OO earlier in the month. (Samoan currency equals sterling.)

Trochus Shell

Irregular shipments are handled in Sydney by some Pacific Islands trading firms. Nominal Sydney quotations are: Thursday Island shell, £BS per ton, f.0.b.; New Guinea shell, £7B per ton. c.i.f., Sydney: Solomon Islands shell, un quoted. Very little trochus shell has been re ceived in Sydney in recent months.

Fiji merchants recently paid for trochus £P6O (£ A66/17/6) per long ton on the beach at Suva.

Coffee

Prices for coffee produced in British Colonies increased in 1949. following devaluation of the £ stg., and Pacific Territories prices advanced similarly. Nominal quotations are:— New Caledonia: Production exported to France at higher than normal rates (equivalent to around £4OO Aust. per ton for Arabica and £350 Aust. for Robusta).

New Guinea and Papua; Nominally £350 to £370 per ton (c.i.f.), according to quality.

Java: No exports coming to Australia from Indonesia at present.

Vanilla Beans

Production of the main South Seas vanilla producer, French Oceania, mostly goes to USA.

Papeete merchants quote 325 francs per kilo (2.2 lb.).

Price for Tahiti vanilla beans (White-Yellow Label) quoted on the Sydney market (by J. C.

Merrillees Pty., Ltd.) is 18/6 per lb., c.i.f. Aus tralian ports.

Rice

No free-trading in rice at present. All the Australian crop goes to the Commonwealth Government for allocation to countries where rice is a staple of the native peoples. Rice shipped from Sydney to Islands ports is fixed at £45 per ton White and £49 per ton Brown.

Green Snail Shell

Nominal quotations in Sydney are at £65 per ton, c.i.f., for f.a.q. shell, but there has been little shell sold during the past 12 months.

Pearl Shell

By a three-years’ contract between the Otto Gerdau Company (principal Mother of Pearl Shell buyer in USA) and the majority of Torres Strait pearlers, the Thursday Island shell prices were fixed in the middle of 1949 at: Sound grades, £A325 per ton, f.0.b., TI; “D” grade, £A225; “E” grade. £Al2s—all prices were plus bonuses declared by the company.

Independent quotation; Top grades. £A465 per ton; “D,” £ A 340; “E,” £A24O.

The Torres Strait pearling season re-opened during the first week in April. Contracts now are being negotiated for the independent pearlers’ output. One New York firm has offered £AS7O per ton for first-class shell.

Price Of Gold

The Commonwealth Bank’s price for gold bought in Australia is:— Fine Standard oz. .. £ls/9/10 oz £l4/4/- (Australian Currency).

Copra

Fiji Local Buying Price, in Store, Fiji Currency.

Since January 1, 1949, the British Ministry of Food has had a 9-years’ contract with the Fiji Government to buy the Colony’s copra at fixed prices yearly. Each year until 1958, the price will be adjusted by negotiation.

New Hebrides From a maximum of £7O/12/6 (Aust.), per ton, in 1948, the price of New Hebrides copra has firmed to £AS9 per ton.

Western Samoa Samoa has a 10 years’ contract agreement with the UK Government —exporters during 1949 received £45 Samoan per ton (an additional £3 per ton being held by the Copra Board towards a Stabilisation Fund).

French Oceania Papeete firms are paying planters 9,350 francs per 1,000 kilos for Tahiti copra, which goes either direct to France or to Canada for crushing.

Territory Of Papua-New Guinea

ANGPCB Fixed Price. Delivered to Ship’s Slings or to the Board’s warehouse.

April, 1950.—New prices expected from May 1.

From March, 1949, Australia agreed to sell a proportion of P-NG’s production annually to the UK Ministry of Food, for nine years, at fixed prices. For 1949, the price to the UK was £4B stg. per ton (planters received £4B Aust. per ton). The new 1950 price has been fixed at £4B/10/- stg. per ton, f.o.b. Territories ports.

Rubber

Since the Australian Government’s wartime price control on rubber was lifted, most Sydney trading firms use the London and Singapore day-to-day quotations as a basis when buying Papuan rubber.

An average rate during April for No. 1 grade RMA (Rubber Manufacturers’ Association) was- ISVad. Stg. per lb. (63 cents Singapore), equi valent to 23y B d. Aust. per lb.

Quotations For Mining

June, 1942 Plantation £16 0 0 £15

Fms

0 0 July, 1942 16 12 6 15 12 6 June, 1944 19 10 0 18 0 0 October, 1944 .. ,. 20 0 0 18 10 0 December, 1945 19 7 6 17 17 6 January, 1946 .. .. 18 5 6 18 0 0 August, 1946 .. 23 10 6 23 5 0 February, 1947 . .. 29 15 6 29 10 0 June 9, 1947 .. .. 36 19 0 36 13 6 December 8, 1947 . 38 5 6 38 0 0 March 15, 1948 .. 46 5 6 46 0 0 January 1, 1949 .. 49 10 6 49 5 0 January 1, 1950 (MOF price) 53 14 3

Hot-air Smoked Jan. 7, 1947 .. . £28 0 0 £27 0 0 June 17, 1947 . £31 2 0 Nov. 23, 1947 . £35 10 0 April 8, 1948 £40- £45 January 1, 1949. — Pt. Moresby . £48 0 0 £47 7 6 Samara! .. £48 0 0 £47 7 6 Madang . .. £48 0 0 £47 7 6 Rabaul .. £48 0 0 £47 7 6 Kokopo .. £46 17 6 £46 5 0 Kavleng . .. £45 17 6 £45 5 0 April, 1950. —New prices under consideration in Canberra.

Official Price for P-NG Copra sold in Sydney: Hot-air Dried Smoked January, 1947 . £36 10 0 £35 10 0 July. 1947 . .. £51 5 0 £50 5 0 April, 1948 . .. .. £61 0 0 £60 0 0 April. 1949 . . . .. £66 0 0 £65 7 6 May, 1949 . .. £66 10 0 £65 17 6

Fiji

Aug.. 1939.

Mar. 1 Apr. 1.

Emperor Mines .. b9/ll bl3/7 S13/9 Loloma ,. ...

S25/6 b24/7 V2 s27/-

New Guinea

Bulolo G.D bl24/b84/b75/- Enterprise of N.G. b27/6 bl5/bl5/- Guinea Gold ,. .. bl3/3 b9/3 b6/6 N.G.G., Ltd bl/10 bl/6 bl/9 Placer Development b68/6 bl30/bl25/- Sandy Creek .. .. bl/5 b3d. sl/- Sunshine Gold . .. b6/5 b9/6 slO/6

Papua

Cuthbert’s Misima .

S16/6 bl/9 b3/6 Mandated Alluvials b3/8 b2/7 b2/- Oil Search S3/11 b4/6 b4/10 Oriomo Oil b5/bl/b2/4 Papuan Apinaipi .. b4/ll b4/10 s4/3