Papuan Planters
pp. 30-31 · Read in the full issue
Temporary Relief for Papuan Planters No Long-Term Solution t[?] Rubber Difficulties
IVTR. HASLUCK, Minister for Ter* ritories, announced in Pori Moresby on November 29 that the Department of Supply would buy 400 tons of Papuan No. 1 and No. 2 sheet rubber in the next two months.
This will temporarily relieve the embarrassment of Papuan rubber planters who have been unable to sell their rubber in Australia for the last few months. (It is the equiva lent of less than 2 months’ produc tion from Papua.) The Department of Supply will re lease from the Government stockpile a similar amount of lower grade rubber which will be sold to Aus tralian manufacturers. This is in line with a statement made by Mr.
Hasluck in Moresby on November 21.
Although this purchase will do something to solve planters’ imme diate difficulties it does not give them what they had hoped for—a guaranteed market for all their rub ber production in Australia. The long-term solution to this problem now seems to have been put back on to the laps of the planters.
In his statement of November 21, Mr. Hasluck said that the Gov ernment could not force Australian companies to buy rubber but that it was trying to persuade them to voluntarily buy Papuan rubber as it became available.
He said that the government stock-pile is full but that they were examining the possibility of selling some of the lower grades from it and replacing it with grades now available from Papua—the plan that has now been put into action. An alternative to this, also being con sidered, “would be to take steps to ensure” that no foreign rubber was purchased in Australia as long as Papuan was available. However, as some rubber used in Australia was of lower grade than any product in Papua, this might result in top grade Papuan being purchased in place of lower grades from other countries and consequently at a lower price than producers expect.
He suggested that planters, in their own interests, could build up some marketing organisation of their own which could help them “ride out short-term delay in marketing.”
Such an organisation, with the help of the Rural Credits Department of
he Commonwealth Bank, could buy übber as delivered, sell it when :onvenient, and make advances to danters against their deliveries. He aid that another alternative was for hem to try to find markets outside Australia and for this export licences /ould be freely granted. (Planters are unlikely to be im iressed by the promise of freely ranted export licences. The only ountries clamouring for rubber locks at the present time appear to e behind the Iron Curtain—and : is unlikely that export licences rould be forthcoming for those.) Mr. Hasluck said that there was eed for improvement in grading of apuan rubber so that it could stand jmparison with standard RMA grad igs. He said the Commonwealth as ready to help by providing a ibber Inspector.
China Wants Ceylon
Rubber
It was reported in early Novem jr that Communist China had ffered to buy the entire sheet rub ;r output of Ceylon (50,000 tons it year) for the next five years, rice offered is believed to be 32d Itg) per pound—which is far better lan Ceylon could hope to obtain se where. Ceylon’s Trade and ommerce Minister led a trade dele tion to Peiping recently and ■ought back the offer. It seems now tat it is only a matter of solving jw China will pay for this rubber.
If Ceylon’s entire output goes to hina it is not expected that the odd price will be affected as Thai nd is expected to re-enter the open arket next year when the United ates contract to buy from her ex res and is not expected to be re jwed. The output of Thailand ould more than offset the loss of eylon rubber.