For Papua’s

No Relief Yet For Papua’s Rubber Planters

CHREE developments have

occurred in recent weeks which might help Papuan rubber lanters. They are the repeal of tie American law which required libber goods manufacturers to use proportion of synthetic rubber in tieir products; the lifting of the jnerican embargo on the supply f rubber to all Communistic ountries (except Red China, where tie ban still operates) and the rrival in the Territory of an Aus ralian Government representative D investigate the cost of rubber roduction, presumably to enable tie Government to decide whether r not the 2d per pound duty on 'apuan rubber shall be lifted.

There have, as yet, been no im lediate, beneficial effects from the svo developments at the American nd. Papuan rubber, first quality, ras still selling at 1/9 lb, delivered lydney, end of January.

And there certainly have been no esults from the cost investigator’s rip to the Territory. It can be xpected, in fact, that the investi ator will take some time to com lete his task, and before he gets ound to making the inevitable Titten report to Canberra, the costs ie is looking at may have jumped me way or the other.

Planters remember the investiga ion that was made by another ex ert some years ago. Between the ime the investigations were made nd the report written, the price of übber had jumped by about 300 er cent; by the time the report r as published, it had slumped again.

Planters’ can hope that the pre ent investigation is not going to •e another 2-years’ job.

The investigator arrived in Port loresby on January 22.

What Papuan planters do not mderstand is the reason for the in estigator’s trip, when the cost of übber production is firmly enough stablished to show that ruling narket prices are too low T to cover t. The planters are impatient of my delay in the Government’s de cision on the 2d per pound duty.

Earlier, it was thought that a ?ariff Board Inquiry would be neces ary before the duty could be lifted, mt it seems now that the Govern nent can legislate for the abolition •f the duty. Even though the Aus ralian Government felt itself justi ied in seeking GATT’S approval or the lifting of the duty (which vas approved months ago) it has leen fit to make still another cost nvestigation before it takes the de

rive step.

It is thought that pressure on the jovernment from rubber manufac turers (who want duty removed rom all rubber imports, whatever

their source) may have some bearing on the delay.

Air Freight On Seeds

. . x Some long-term assistance to the Papuan rubber industry has been given recently by the Administration which has undertaken to pay the air freight from Malaya on planting material from high-yielding rubber trees. Transport charges increased the cost of this by about 50 per cent.

However, Papua is unlikely to benefit by these better type rubber trees for at least 10 years—the time the trees take to come into bearing. And in that time there could, of course, be no Papuan rubber industry to bother about.

Optimism In Malaya

i n Malaya, in January, there was a belief that rubber prices might rise in the first months of this year. This optimism was based on prospects of America being in the market for increased supplies of natural rubber. The chiefs of the big us rubber companies, Goodyear and Firestone, had both stated that 1954 should be a year of greater production of motor tyres, It i s hoped, also, that the recent visit of US Vice-President Nixon to Malaya may do some good at pol itical level. One way to help keep Communism out of this part of Asia is for the US to provide a market for its chief product. Depression amongst rubber workers now would give the green light to Red agitators.