P-NG Copra

' Very Big Drop' In P-NG Copra Exports This Year

From a Port Moresby Correspondent Papua-New Guinea this year faced a drop of £A 3,000,000 in value of its copra exports, Mr. lan McDonald, chairman of the Terri tory's Copra Marketing Board said in early July.

HE said this represented a fall of more than one third on last year’s exports of copra—Papua-New Guinea’s most important industry.

Mr. McDonald forecast the copra slump in commenting on his June report to the Marketing Board.

This latest monthly report an nounces a world price drop for July of £1 sterling per ton, from £6O sterling to £59 sterling.

Mr. McDonald said when com menting on his report: “I expect the value of our copra exports this finan cial year to be £si million.

“This compares with total of £Bi million which we gained on copra exports in 1959-60.

“The expected drop has nothing to do with lowered production be cause our export tonnage this year should be about the same as last year’s 107,000 tons.”

In the June report Mr. McDonald said one of the main reasons for the “heavy drop” in the copra price was booming production of fish oil in South America. It had increased in “a fantastic way”.

Taking the situation as a whole, said Mr. McDonald, it was too early yet to be either depressed or elated at future prospects.