Be Produced

Coconut Fibre to Be Produced Again in N. Guinea

ANOTHER attempt to produce coconut fibre fcir commercial use is to be made in New Britain —but it will not be the first fibre produced in NG, as an article in the Sydney Morning Herald stated in March.

Credit for the establishment of this industry goes to Mr. Richard Gault. About six years ago Mr.

Gault discussed with Mr H w.

Green, of the Islands firm of Robert Gillespie Pty. Ltd. the commercial possibilities of various small in dustries. Desiccated coconut and coconut fibre were selected as two worth trying.

A desiccated coconut plant was established—then came the typhoid infection incident which closed down all desiccated coconut production in Papua-New Guinea. Attention was then turned by Mr. Gault and Gillespies, to a fibre industry.

Four years ago a New Hebrides firm which had purchased coconut fibre processing machinery and com menced operations, went into liquida tion and their machinery was pur chased by John Lawler & Sons Pty.

Ltd., of Sydney, who, as previous purchasers of the entire output of the mill, were keen to see production expanded to meet the demands of their mattress manufacturing in dustry. This did not eventuate.

Mr. Gault and Gillespies pur chased this machinery and shipped it to Rabaul in January, 1955. Meanwhile, Mr. Gault had also purchased fibre decorticating machinery formerly in use by Aus

tralian Fibres Ltd., which closed its Kokopo plant in 1953.

The new industry is now being operated by Mr. Gault and Robert Gillespie Pty. Ltd. An arrangement has been made, however, whereby John Lawler & Sons Pty. Ltd. will receive supplies of coconut fibre as payment for the machinery taken over from them.

The SMH article implied that John Lawler was operating the plant in NB, which is not so.

The article was also misleading in other respects. The mill will have an initial output of about 40 tons of fibre per month, and at the end of 18 months it may have worked up to its maximum capability of 120 tons per month. The plant will cer tainly not be “semi-portable,” as sug gested.

At present Australia is importing about 20,000 tons of fibre per annum from Ceylon, the present landed cost being £45 to £5O per ton. The new Rabaul plant, using a different process to that employed in Ceylon, will turn out a better quality pro duct.

THIS will not be the first coconut fibre industry to operate in New Guinea, as the newspaper article implied. Such an industry probably existed in German times; and in the 30’s W. R. Carpenter & Co. was pro ducing fibre at its Pondo, New Britain, mill. Australian Fibres Ltd. operated at Kokopo after the war.

Some of the problems met with by the Kokopo organisation were explained by Mr. Les Clark, formerly of that company. The mill was located too far from its sources of supply, its output was too small to be economic; drying of the husks was a major problem, and a high

freight rate on the finished produc was the final blow.

Mr. Clark states that from the be ginning, the freight rate to Sydne l was greatly in excess of the rat applying to fibre imported fror Ceylon. Then came the Bulolo fir while that ship was discharging i.

Sydney in late 1951. The shippini company investigators reached th conclusion (with which Mr. Clar disagreed), that spontaneous com bustion in a shipment of fibre wa the cause. Freight rates on fibre wer subsequently increased 100 per cent.

Prior to that, however, it has be come evident that a £4,000 kil dryer would be required to dry th fibre before it was baled.

The company was purchasin husks as they lay on the ground i the plantations. In New Britain damp climate these were invariabl saturated when brought in to th mill. Sundrying could not be don satisfactorily, and the fibre coul not be baled damp.

Mr. Clark considers that any com pany operating in that area wi have to contend with the dryin problem. However, the new compan is satisfied that it will be able t meet all the problems and delive its produce at an economic price.