Copra Up a Little, Coconut

Reaction To Indonesian Crisis

Copra Up a Little, Coconut Oil a Lot

Indications were, early September, that the worsening political economic situation in Indonesia was having a hardening effect he world copra market.

ITHER the effect will be a ong-term one, remains to be leen, however. Affairs have 10 confused in that country long now, with consequent ous effect on copra (and exports, that the fat and oil i is beginning to adjust itself The rise in copra price on ropean market in early Sep , could, therefore, be purely tionary. on price on August 28 was /3 2; by September 9, it had 0 £Stg.B3 per ton, c.i.f. This price was £Stg.3/15/- per ton than the August average, vhich such organisations as NG Copra Marketing Board Itimately base their August its. ie last month, the price of t oil rose in spectacular [ by about £Stg.l2 to £Stg.l3B 1 for Ceylon, and is holding ue much better than copra, [ferential between copra price iconut oil price is now far than it was five months ago. ly April. Ceylon coconut oil tg.138/10/- per ton c.i.f., Lon nd copra was £Stg.93/15/-. rise in the London copra ; in the first 10 days of Sep was reflected throughout the . The price paid by the local ig mill in Suva was adjusted is; and in other territories, copra exports are handled by i, it had the result of keep •ices firm on August rates

when many producers, basing their calculations on early August prices, had anticipated a downwards adjust ment. ki£ c| na p r ; cp Mnai mce Most Copra Boards were extremely conservative in their tentative pay ments in the first half of the year w hen copra prices were booming, and now find themselves with sufficient accumulated funds to carry them over the present fluctuating

period without lowering prices to producers.

During August, the P-NG Cop Marketing Board declared th< Board’s final price for copra de livered during January I—June 30, 1959. This is: Hotair, £ABB/14 - per ton; FMS, £AB7/14 - per ton; and Smoke, £AB7/l/6 per ton. In cold cash this means that within the next few months—by end of No vember, according to Mr. lan McDonald, CMB chairman—P-NG planters will be credited with a further £l3/14/- per ton for all the copra they delivered during that period, or £658,000 in total.

Income tax will not be payable on this; but export duty has already been taken into calculations before arriving at the final price.

The tentative price for P-NG copra, from July 1, remains, until further notice, at £A72/10/-, £A7I, and £A7O for the three grades.