Ahead for Fiji

1956 Sugar Price

Another Good Year Ahead for Fiji

COMMONWEALTH sugar produc ing countries will, in 1956, re ceive £4O/15/- Stg., c.i.f. UK, per ton for raw sugar delivered under the terms of the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement.

This is the same price as for 1955.

Under the terms of the Agree ment, a price for a certain fixed quota of raw sugar is negotiated each year. Fiji’s quota is 125,000 tons. Sugar produced and sold over that quantity is based on world price, which is usually the spot price obtained by Cuba. In early January the spot price of Cuban sugar was about £26 Stg., f.o.b. Cuban ports.

Although the difference in the Agreement price and current world price seems very great it gives any thing but a true picture of the sugar market. Little sugar is sold at “world price,” most sugar deals be considerably higher than that. For example, Cuba sells a considerable portion of its sugar to the United States under an agreement for about 5 cents per lb., which is about 2 cents per lb above world price.

Most sugar deals, outside of Agree ments, are negotiated on-a basis of world-price plus—plus being what ever the producer countries can persuade the consumer country to add to the price per pound.

The result of this year’s negotia tions, so far as the Fiji sugar in dustry is concerned, means that there will be another year of prosperity in the Colony. But although Commonwealth sugar pro ducers, like Commonwealth copra producers, are now getting the best end of the bargain this only goes to level out the war and post-war years when the UK took all Empire sugar at ridiculously low prices.

Cost of production, moreover, is still increasing. If so-called “world price” were the amount actually re ceived for raw sugar, the sugar in dustries in Australia and Fiji would be completely uneconomic.