Effect of US Price Freeze on

Pacific Industries

‘‘fTIHE “freezing” of prices by the United X States at the end of January has so far had little, if any, effect on prices for South Pacific products. It is difficult to find out in Australasia just what items have been given a ceiling price in Washington, although it is known that cocoa and rubber come into the category.

The reason for the “freeze” was the constantly rising price of strategic materials, which was accelerated by the defence stock-piling of the Western nations.

In some instances the US “freeze” seems to have misfired completely. In the first of the 1951 series of wool sales in London, American competition was virtually withdrawn, but it soon became apparent that whether US was buying or not, there

still were more buyers in the rest of ti world than there was wool to satisfy the demands.* Cocoa also came under US “freez legislation although the ceiling price fix was slightly ahead of the price ruling the end of February. The ceiling pri has been fixed at about £307 stg. per t< in New York. This is slightly below t price paid for West African cocoa Sydney but slightly above the price beii paid for New Guinea and Western Sam cocoa.

Most of Western Samoa’s cocoa is sc in the United States and the ceiling pri may shortly affect Samoan growe Some Samoan cocoa has been sold Europe recently at £2BO stg., per ton, fc AS far as the trade section of the I Consulate General in Sydney aware, no ceiling price has been p on copra, although it might be imagin that copra is much more of a bas strategic material than is cocoa. T planters of the British South Pacific ca not, at any rate, have more than academic interest in a US ceiling copra while they are bound by the t Ministry of Food copra contract. If t United States fixed the ceiling at to-da; ruling price, it would be at least twice much as the price being received planters in New Guinea, Papua, Gilb( and Ellice Islands, British Solomons, F or any of the other British South Paci groups and territories.

On February 16, according to t Produce Circular issued by the Bank New Zealand, Straits and NEI copra w bringing £135 stg. ner ton cif Europe: ports; Ceylon copra up to £l3B stg. cif, a: Philippines copra the equivalent of 2 dollars.

Straits coconut oil in bulk was selling £l9l stg., per ton, cif, Europe; Ceylon bi at £192 and, in drums, £l9B.

THERE is a rumour current in Sydn at present that the US has put ceiling price on trochus shell, check of trade circles has failed to reve any specific instance of this—possiH because few parcels of trochus have be sold in Sydney in recent months.

We reported in PIM in March that; parcel was sold in Sydney at the end February at £255 (Australian) per to This is believed to be a record price 1 this shell. Destination of the shell is u known. Before the war this type of shi mostly went to small button manufa turers in Japan and Central Europe.

The US Consulate trade section had information about a price ceiling t trochus. But if Japan is interested reviving her pre-war pearl-button tra< it seems feasible that the United Stat may now or later try to keep the price trochus down to reasonable limits.

Noumea gendarmes recently arrested! man named Louis Biondy, convicted treason. He will be sent to France i trial by the Marseilles military court, man with a bad record, he arrived cla= destinely as a passenger on the Sagittal in 1948, and had since been living with native woman at Houailou. He was debt to the local natives for coffee he hr sold on their behalf in Noumea.

*At wool sales in Melbourne and Sydney the first two weeks in April, prices of Wi fell from 15 to 30 per cent, on prices that m ruling in first months of the year. Abse« of American competition was stated to be main cause for decline. Apart from wo growers, most Australians are happy to see fall.