Unilever And Copra

Combine’s Colossal Profits

PHE price of copra in London at the beginning of June, GIF, European ports, was approxi ately £62 Stg per ton for Straits, id £67 per ton for Ceylon. In mesian is quoted 62 1 guilders per 10 kilos.

The quotation for Philippines >pra in June was about 140 US )llars per short ton.

In Tahiti, early in June, copra as quoted at 7.80 Pacific francs per lo for dry and 8.20 francs for iper-dry.

A statement by the Indonesian inister in Canberra in June de nded Indonesian labourers a dnst a charge of inefficiency in e copra industry and said at “Unilever had invested 30 illion rupiahs in the copra in istry in Indonesia during the Tiod 1950-52.” (30 m. Rupiahs = A 6 m.) This may provide some explana >n of the marked increase lately the output of copra from Indo sia, which appears to have been factor in the recent world wide 11 in copra prices. Another factor, course, was a marked increase the amount of whale oil brought ck from the Antarctic in recent onths by various whaling expe bions.

IHE statement also directs atten tion to the growing activities of Unilever Ltd., which is the ternational combine which ap ars to control the markets of all e classes of oil now used in the oduction of soap and marga le —especially vegetable oils and lale oil.

It was announced in mid-June at the combined net profits of lilever Ltd., (English) and Uni ter NV (Dutch) were £18,837,651 ?. in 1951. This result was reach after providing over £31,000,000 r taxation and making a stock servation of £3,000,000. The jup’s consolidated trading profit •S stated to be just under >4,000,000 Stg., or £1,750,000 )re than in 1950. [n a public statement in London June 25, Sir Geoffrey Hey worth hairman of Unilever Ltd.) said at “the need for margarine to >lace things like butter and meat likely to increase as the popu ion rises and industrialisation >ws.”

Newspaper comments following s statement said there was every lication of a growing world mar : for the products of Unilever— natural corollary of the growing artage of food caused by the lidly increasing population in the rid.

Thisi, in turn, would seem to ure a sound future for the pro pers of copra—were it not that

this international combine now is so placed and so powerful that it can grab all the excess profits cre ated by the disparity between supply and demand. Unilever kept the

copra producers close to the bread line before World War 11, and it does not seem to be suffering from any restriction of its liberties in this postwar era.

Eleven lucky residents of Apia, Western Samoa, calling themselves the Alofa Mai Syndicate, celebrated recently when they learned that they had won third prize of £2,500 in an Australian lottery. About a year ago another resident of Apia won £lO,OOO in the same lottery.

Dr. J. S. Phillips arrived recently in Honiara, BSI, to conduct further entomological research into nutfall disease in coconuts, which is caused by the insect amblypelta cooophaga.

Dr. Phillips made some investiga tions of nutfall in the Solomons,