Pacific Commerce and Produce

The new lehi well is located further west, in an area where APG found some of the largest deposits of gas in the southern hemisphere.

Move To Regulate

Whaling Industry

Norway and the Netherlands might re join the International Whaling Com mission if a proposal put forward recently by Norwegian whalers is accepted by Com mission members.

Under the Norwegian proposal, the Netherlands must agree to accept Com mission quota rulings, Russia must agree to not more than 20 per cent, of the total world catch, and all must agree to a satisfactory inspection system to ensure that the agreement is maintained.

This year the countries taking part in the Summer Antarctic whaling season failed to agree on the division of the total catch and some set their own quotas. All, however, agree that a limitation of the total catch is essential for the future of the industry.

Another Logging Co.

For Papua-NG

Because there is a dearth of suitable soft and semi-hard timber in Australia, Clarke Bros. Holdings Ltd., timber mer chant, is seeking a logging concession in Papua-New Guinea, said Mr. J. C. Clarke (chairman) said at the annual meeting in Sydney in late October.

The Co. will seek further capital, by way of a convertible note issue, early in the New Year, to finance this logging and milling establishment.

Mariboi's Rubber Production

(And Profit) a Record

Output of dry rubber for the year ended June 30 last was 936,229 lb—a record, as was the year’s profit of £50,303, the chairman (Mr. E. V. Crisp) reported at Mariboi Rubber Ltd.’s annual meeting in Port Moresby last month.

Pinal dividend of 13% per cent, made a total of 20 per cent, for the year (taking £40,237). Reserves gained £lO,OOO.

The Co. has installed a modem treat ment plant for processing tree, cup and ground scrap rubber, which will enable it to make a fine quality crepe rubber commanding higher prices than for scrap rubber. In addition, it has erected a stone-crushing machine for the mainten ance of the 12 miles of estate roads.

Plantation Holdings Pay

12 Per Cent. For First Year

Although Plantation Holdings Ltd., New Guinea, in the first year of operations showed less profit (at £20,763) than the £24,360 estimated in its prospectus, dividend of 12 per cent, was paid, against an estimated 10 per cent.

Profit of £20.763 to June 30. 1960, was after £3,548 taxation provision and £6 346 depreciation. Interim (6 per cent.) and final dividend (6 per cent.) required £ The° recent fall in world prices for both copra and cocoa accounted for the drop in anticipated profits, directors stated.

Fiji "Moratorium" Bill

Dropped by Government

As a result of general dissatisfaction ex pressed by the business community, and particularly by Suva Chamber of Com merce, the Fiji Government has decided not to proceed with the “Moratorium” Bill it proposed in September.

The bill, known as the Courts (Temporary Provisions) Bill, 1960, would have relieved some persons from liabilities arising out of non-payment of money and non-performance of obligations if directly or indirectly attributable to the crisis in the sugar industry. It would have expired on December 30 next—unless continued.

Members of Suva Chamber of Commerce voiced concern that, because of the sugar dispute, attachments could not be Issued for non-payment of debts, if the bill be came law, and said it would affect every business in the Colony.

British Aluminium Acquires

P-NG Hydro-Electric Rights

After negotiations begun in 1957 for the sale of its 51 per cent, interest in New Guinea Resources Prospecting Co. Ltd., the Commonwealth Government announced last month that it had agreed to sell its interest to British Aluminium Co. Ltd.

NG Resources Prospecting Co. was

formed in 1950 to investigate potential hydro-electric resources in Papua—the Commonwealth Govt, providing £153,000 and British Aluminium Co. £147,000 for its 49 per cent, share.

By the sale, British Aluminium thus acquires the rights to hydro-electric development in Papua. It will continue investigation of the Purari River system as a power source possibility for smelting aluminium in Papua.

At June 30 last year, NG Resources assets were disclosed as £8.472, mainly base camp buildings at Kairuku. trucks, boats and drilling and field equipment.

British Aluminium recently ended its association with Consolidated Zinc Corporation as partners in Commonwealth Aluminium Corporation Pty. Ltd. Now, Consolidated Zinc alone will develop the huge Weipa bauxite deposits on Cape York Peninsula, Nth. Australia and will take over the huge Bell Bay (Tasmania) smelter works.

Bali Plantations Off

To a Good Start

Bali Plantations Ltd., New Guinea, earned a consolidated net profit of £54,243 to August 31 in its first year of opera tions.

Profit was achieved after providing £11,138 for taxation and depreciation of £7,249. Preliminary expenses were written down £5,063 and £19,300 placed to reserves.

Dividend of 12 per cent, (including final 7 per cent.) requires £29,880.

The Co.’s recently announced issue of 110,000 10/- shares at a premium was allotted to the Development Finance Corporation group, it has been revealed.

DFC has taken the investment placement to spread among its companies.

NGG's Profit Falls,

But Dividend Steady

A drop of £22.460 (to £40,179) on last year’s £62,639 profit was shown by New Guinea Goldfields Ltd. for the year ended June 30. Profit was after P-NG tax £9,000 (not payable for the previous year) and depreciation and redemption £46,955 (£4,460 higher).

Trading profit was £5,204 lower at £s4,6B4—the Co. now has substantial

timber-getting and coffee-growing interests,

but mining operations showed an overall loss of £5,927 (against profit of £2 394 for 1958-59).

Actually, the Co.’s own mining operations produced profit of £11,306 but there was a £ 17,233 loss on alluvial operations con ducted jointly with Koranga Gold Sluicing Ltd.

Dividend remains at 3d a share, re quiring £55,904, which is paid from gold mining profits reserve.

Koitaki Rubber Profit

Bounces Up

A 50 per cent, rise in profit over 1959 took Koitaki Para Rubber Estates Ltd.’s result to £43,605 for the year ended June 30. Previous year’s profit was £28,986.

Final dividend of 13% per cent, (on capital doubled by July’s 1-for-l bonus issue), with Interim 17y 2 per cent., is equivalent to 45 per cent, on pre-bonus capital. For 1958-59, 35 per cent, was paid.

Profit represents earning rate of 29 per cent, on present capital. It is after much

higher provisions—tax £12,546 (up £11,761), depreciation £13,292 (up £1,711), and a new special amortisation provision of £5,000.

Suva Tyre Retreading

Factory Expands

The Western Samoan-financed Summit Retreading Co., Ltd., Suva—Fiji’s only full-time retreading company—recently moved into larger premises at Walu Bay.

The new factory has a floor area of 4,100 sq. ft. including a three-bedroom staff flat on the upper floor.

The company was formed by Hans and Rudolf Keil, Herman Retzlaff, and Eugene Paul, of Apia in 1956. Mr. Hans Keil, well known as proprietor of the White Horse Inn, had earlier established a re treading factory in Apia.

Managed by Mr. H. N. Reay, the Suva factory is capable of retreading 25 tyres a day, in all sizes up to large truck tyres (900 x 20). Equipment is mainly American manufactured. Each tyre mould draws heat from a separate oil-fired closed circuit steam boiler. These boilers use little water—an expensive item in Suva— and steam is applied only to the moulds actually in use.

The factory supplies an important service to Fiji’s motorists. A certain amount of government work is done, but the Colony’s largest user of tyres, Public Works Dept., does not favour retreading: it can import new tyres on a duty-free basis and is thus at a considerable ad vantage as compared with the non- Government consumers.

Whales Help Fill

Tongan Larder

Although there are no plans for any immediate whale oil industry in Tonga, a careful watch is being kept there on the possibilities. All whales caught or sighted are now carefully recorded as to variety, size, etc., so that the approximate numbers which migrate past the group each winter can be estimated and the potentialities evaluated.

Meanwhile, whaling is much in favour as a fresh meat industry, with increasing numbers of whalers entering the business, throughout the entire Group. For years, whaling was confined to the vicinity of Nukualofa, the Cook family being the only whalers.

Whales move up from the Antarctic for about three months, commencing in May.

They breed in the tropics, then head south, in much poorer condition and with calves.

Cows with calves, or calves themselves, may not be killed, so not much whaling is done on the southern run.

Europeans in Nukualofa who have sampled whale meat say that, properly prepared, it is delicious. Very occasionally a calf is accidentally killed —and the steaks from that are superior to the best beef steaks, according to one European Nuku alofa whale-meat fancier.

A little whale oil was exported by one merchant recently. It was rendered down in the old way with tri-pot and open fire.

Whales are still taken by the methods of last century—the open long-boat with no engine, and the hand-thrown harpoon.

The boats carry a small sail to assist them out to the grounds. When a whale is secured a signal flag is run up and a hire-launch comes out to render assistance by towing the whale in. That is the situation at Nukualofa, but in other parts of Tonga the whole job is sometimes handled by the long-boat men.