Ands Produce

;s otherwise stated, quotations are ralian currency. Aust. £ equals nately 16/- Stg., NZ, or W. 18/- Fiji: 20/- Tonga. Solomons & ireas; 196 Pac. Frs.; $U52.25.)

Copra

Jrltlsh Ministry of Food 9-years ;, which governed Copra prices i and New Guinea, Fiji. Western Solomon Islands, and Gilbert and olony (and. to some extent. In nd Cook Islands) expired on De -31. 1957; since when each Terri made its own arrangements for i and marketing of copra, i- NEW GUINEA:—AII production ired to Copra Marketing Board. i by six members, including three representatives; and the Board listrlbutlon and sales, and makes s to the producers. Production Inly to (a) Unilever (under con vering 1960), (b) Australia (for isumptlon) and (c) crushing-mill ul. Prices generally arranged In ce with ruling rate in Philippines with premiums for hot-air dried.

July 1, 1960, P-NG Copra Tentative Purchase Prices, for ivered main ports; Hot-Air Dried, r ton: FMS, £A63/10/- per ton; ried, £ A62/10/- per ton.

No Government control—producers •e they wish. Bulk of copra goes ing-mills in Suva. On Oct. 10

3Re: Had £Fso, Fm £P4B/10/-.

PERN SAMOA:—Official Copra ;cefves all production, and sells and makes payments to producers, roportlon goes to Unilever, at es PM grade rates, plus pre ip to £S3 per ton for hot . Prices since March, 1959, have 't-air dried, £867/13/8 per ton; No. 1. £S6S/3/8: sun-dried 361/13/8. k: —Sales are under Government *art of production goes to Europe, rrangement with Unilever con y Philippines prices, and part en market. [ONS: —AII production marketed official Copra Board, at prices Philippines market. Price de from Oct. 1: Ist grade, £A62/10/-; e, £ A6l; 3rd grade, £ASB/10/f.0.b., BSIP ports. The Copra subsidising the price by approxi- Al 2 per ton. *T AND ELLlCE:—Production in Europe through official Copra it prices based on Philippines ss “stabilisation fund” charges.

OA;—Producers receive 7 cents lb.

I or £ A7O/4/6 approx, per long rlodic bonus. If average proceeds ovt. buying price and expenses.

HEBRIDES: —Prices dropped on to £ A39/10/- (7,900 Pac. francs) elivered Vila/Santo. French price was 87 heavy francs per metric , Marseilles.

IS. AND NIUE is.: Subject to contract provisions between Cook Uue shippers and Abels, Ltd., of who operate the only NZ copra mill, the price paid is average price for previous month, less charges. Actual price paid to varies widely from island to anging from £NZ3O to £NZSO AUS: Price is based on the jondon price for the month prior ;nt to Auckland crushers.

Other Produce

COCOA;—lslands prices are based on the rate for Ghana cocoa which on Oct. 14 was £ Stg.22l/5/- per ton c.i.f. Sydney.

W. SAMOA:—Nominal price quoted in Sydney on Oct. 14; £S2IS, f.0.b., Apia, grade 1; £S2IO, grade 2.

P.-N.G.; Oct. 17.—Quote No. 1: £245 (best quality). Quote No. 2: £240 (medium grade).

COFFEE.—P.-N.G.: Oct. 14, good quality A grade, per lb. 4/2; B grade, 4/-; C grade. 4/- c.i.f., Sydney.

PEANUTS: P.-N.G.; Oct. 14, Kernels: White Spanish 1/6 lb del buyer’s store; Red Spanish, 1/4; Virginia Bunch, 1/7.

In Shell, 1/- lb.

RUBBER: —P.-N.G. price is based on Singapore rate, which on Oct. 12 was: No. 1 RSS, spot, 97 Va Straits cents per lb (34,38 and Aust.).

VANILLA BEANS; Victor Karp. Tulk & Cos., Sydney, advised Oct. 17: White and yellow label, processed, standard packs. 42/9; green label, 41/6, c.i.f., Sydney.

RICE (Aust.): Prices as from May 1960—P.-N.G.: Dry brown and dressed, 112 lb bags, 5 tons and over, £56/10/per ton, f.0.w.; under 5 tons £57 per ton. Vitamised and enriched white, 112 lb bags, 5 tons and over, £63 per ton, f.0.w.; under 5 tons, £63/10/- per ton.

Other Pac. Islands: Dry, brown, etc., £66 per ton f.0.w., Sydney or Melbourne.

PEARL SHELL.—Quotations for Aus tralian White M.O.P. Shell in Oct. by Sydney independent shell agents were: Sound £ ABSO. D £A6OO, E £A3OO, EE £ A2OO (in store Sydney). Demand re ported to be falling off. Penrhyn Island: Approx. £NZSOO, f.0.b., Rarotonga. Mani hiki Island: Lagoon closed.

TROCHUS: Quote No. 1— Papua-N.G. and 8.5.1. — £l7O per ton, c.i.f., Sydney.

Quote No. 2: £175 per ton.

GREEN SNAIL SHELL.—Supplies short; buyers offering around £475 per ton.

CROCODILE SKINS: 12 in. and over, small-scale, first quality—No. 1 quote: 12/per in. No. 2 quote: 11/6 per in.

PAPUAN GUM: £80 per ton del. buyer’s store, Sydney.

BECHE-DE-MER: Chang Sing Loong Co., Suva, quote 2/- to 4/- lb for well processed commercial varieties.

SHARK FINS: Suva merchants offer 3/per lb for well-dried fins of commercial quality.

London and US Quotations

Copra: LONDON, Oct. 10, Philippines, in bulk, $175 US per long ton, c.i.f., UK/ Nth. European ports. Straits/Borneo, FMS delivered weights, c.i.f. UK/Nth. European ports, £Stg.64/10/- per long ton. NEW YORK: Oct. 10, Philippines $165 US per short ton, c.i.f. Pacific Coast ports.

Ceylon; 900 Rupees, c.i.f. (£1 Australian is equal to about 2 25 US Dollars.) Coconut Oil: LONDON, Oct. 10, Ceylon, 1%, in bulk, £Stg.l02 per ton, c.i.f., UK/ North European ports. Straits, 3%, £ Stg.92/10/- c.i.f.

Rubber: LONDON, Oct. 12, c.i.f., RSS No. 1, Spot, 29d Stg. per lb. Jan./Mar., 27 7 /«d Stg. lb. Oct. shipment 28%d Stg. lb.

Choiseul Plantations Are

"Best in Pacific"

Note from a gratified Islands resident who holds a few thousand shares in Choiseul Plantations. Ltd.. New Guinea: “They are a really wonderful company, with their 4.000 or more tons of copra last year; and they now have 500,000 of inter planted cocoa, which is coming into bear ing. They produced 93 tons of cocoa last year, and it will be 200 or more tons this year. According to the average yields on Bougainville, their 500,000 trees could pro duce 800-900 tons of cocoa per annum when in full bearing. Bougainville is a wonderful country for cocoa—fabulous.

The Choiseul Co. showed a £221,000 profit in last balance-sheet. I’d say it is the best group of plantations in the Pacific, and the coming in of the cocoa could, on present prices, double the profits now made on copra . . . Incidentally, I bought into that new Fiji cement company at 16/6 —they should be OK.”