New Guinea Copra

Planters Have Some Headaches

AS announced elsewhere, the whole of the circumstances surrounding the production and marketing of New Guinea copra are under Ministeral con sideration.

In the meantime, it is noted that an interesting correspondence has been in progress between the Australian Minister for Commerce (Mr. McEwen) and Mr. C.

Sullivan, head of C. Sullivan Pty. Ltd. of Sydney, who takes the view that New Guinea copra-producers are being grossly underpaid for their product by Britain.

Mr. Sullivan’s point is that, while copra holds its value in the international market (that is, as expressed in terms of dollars or gold) the Australian producers, as a result of the arbitrary devaluation of the £, are getting at least 25 per cent, less than the price which the British Ministry of Pood, at the end of 1948, agreed to pay under the nine vears’ contract.

In a letter to the Minister, dated May 11, Mr. Sullivan refers to the British Sooialist Government’s “queer ideas of honesty;” and proceeds: “The position becomes even more sinister when we realise that some of these purchases (of South Pacific copra) are actually shipped by them (the British Socialists) to dollar markets, thus gaining not only dollars — which we badly require—but extra profit also”.

Mr. Sullivan gives the Minister instan ces to show that the £ Sterling is quoted in the United States at a price considerably under the official exchange figure, and he also says that the last offer received by his San Francisco office for Pacific Islands copra was 182 dollars per ton FOB—which is 30 per cent, higher than the price now being paid by the British Government.

As has been pointed out here repeatedly, Ceylon at the beginning of 1950 refused to accept the devaluated £ as fulfilment of the British Ministry of Food contract; broke away from the British ar rangement, and entered the free market, with immediate substantial benefit to the Ceylon copra growers.

It would appear that there is some thing here which requires the attention of the Australian Minister for Territories.

Serious Storage Position Xn

New Guinea

MEANWHILE, a very serious situation is reported from New Guinea, be cause of the inability of the authorities to provide all the ships neces sary to lift the copra, and their further inability to provide storage for the copra that is now pouring out of the planta tions.

It is reported, in a special message to the PIM from Rabaul on May 12, that the PCB stores there now hold over 7,000 tons of copra; there is no more space; several inter-island vessels are anchored in Rabaul, unable to discharge their copra and proceed with their timetables: and the proposed trip of the Mangola to clear Bougainville ports has been can celled, leaving there an accumulation of 17,000 bags which is increasing.

The ship Ivybank arrived in Rabaul on May 12 to load 6,000 tons—but that will take three weeks and, in the meantime, the increasing production is accumulat ing.

Several plantations, owing to absence of coastal ships, are short of rations for their native labour and of essential supplies.

The Australian Minister for Territories, early in May, announced that all the Government shipping services in Papua and New Guinea were to be taken over

by a “young and progressive company”— but it is apparent that some considerable time will elapse before any substantial improvement can be expected in shipping and storage.

Meanwhile, under official encourage ment the production of copra is steadily increasing.

Much bad feeling will be caused in the Territories if officialdom does not actively assist the producers to get the fullest benefit of the present good market.