Islands Produce

(Unless otherwise stated, quotations are in Australian currency)

Cocoa

ISLANDS cocoa prices are usually based on the ruling rate for Accra cocoa (West Africa), quotation for which in mid-November dropped to £275 Stg., c.i.f. (equivalent to £343/15/- Aust.) for November-January shipments. Quo tation supplied by Colyer. Watson Pty., Ltd., Sydney.

Pacific cocoa beans were quoted (sellers) nominally on the Sydney market in November at: — New Guinea: £3OO Aust. per ton, ex wharf.

New Hebrides: £305 Aust. per ton, ex wharf.

W. Samoa: Sydney agents reported in Mid- November that the price of Samoan cocoa dropped £2O per ton during the month —to £315 Samoan (£ A393/15/-,) per ton. (Samoan cur rency equals Sterling.)

Trochus Shell

Nominal Sydney quotations in November were: Thursday Is., £l4O per ton, f.0.b.; N. Guinea, £l4O-£145 per ton, c.i.f., Sydney; Solomon Is., £ 145-£ 150; Fiji. £F7O ( £A76/7/3) per long ton on the beach at Suva; New Caledonia, 14,000 francs per ton, Noumea.

Coffee

Nominal quotations are;— New Caledonia: Production exported to France at above normal rates (equivalent to £A4OO, per ton for Arabica, £A3SO for Robusta).

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

Vanilla Beans

Papeete merchants recently quoted 325 francs per kilo for French Oceania vanilla beans.

Price for Tahiti beans quoted in Sydney (by J. C. Merrillees Pty., Ltd.) is: White Label, 12/o per lb., c.i.f., Sydney.

Rice

Price of rice shipped from Sydney to Islands ports was fixed on May 1 for tne 1900-al season at: £5O per ton White and £54 per ton Brown.

Green Snail Shell

A nominal quotation in Sydney in November was at £125 per ton, c.i.f., for f.a.q. shell.

Pearl Shell

By a term contract between the Otto Gerdau Company (USA) and the majority of Torres Strait pearlers, TT shell prices were fixed in 1949 (for three years) at: Sound grades, £A325 per ton, f.0.b., TI; “D” grade, £A225; “E” grade, £AI25 —all plus bonuses.

The 1950 Torres Strait pearling season re opened in May. Purchase price for the independent pearlers’ output, after negotiation with overseas buyers, was finally set at approxi mately: £ A5BO per ton for Sound grades, £A465 for “D” grades and £A34O for >I E” grades. In dividual parcels of Sound shell have sold for as high as £A6OO.

Copra

Papua - New Guinea. Production Control Board’s fixed price, delivered to ship’s slings or ANGPCB warehouses, as from May, 1950: At main ports, Hot-air Dried, £4B/10/- per ton; Smoked, £47/17/6 (subject to premium up to £l/5/- for superior grades). Official price (as from May. 1950) for Papua-New Guinea copra sold in Sydney to crushers: Hot-air Dried, £67/15/-; Smoked, £67/2/6. Australia has a 9 years’ contract with Britain for the disposal of all Territories’ copra surplus to her own needs.

Fiji.—From January 1. 1950: £53/14/3 Fijian

per ton, FMS (UK Ministry of Food price).

Fiji has a 9 years’ contract with the British MOF for all copra exported.

New Hebrides. —Price at Vila and Santo: £52 Aust. per ton.

Western Samoa.—Producers receive £45 Samoan (par with Sterling) per ton, of which £3 is held for a Stabilisation Fund, under a 10 years’ contract with the UK Pood Ministry.

Fr. Oceania. — Papeete merchants recently have paid 9,350 Pacific francs per 1,000 kilos for Tahiti copra.

Rubber

Sydney trading firms use the London and Singapore day-to-day quotations as a basis when buying Papuan rubber. An average rate in mid- November for No. 1 grade RSS was;—Spot: Nominally 66Vkd. Stg. per lb., c.i.f., London (equivalent to SSYsd. Aust. per lb.); Singapore: RMA No. 1 216 cents per lb., f.o.b.