Fiji Sugar

Better News: US To Buy Fiji Sugar

Prom a Suva Correspondent One of the best pieces of news that Fiji has had for some time is that the United States will buy 5,000 short tons (2,000 lb to a short ton) of Fiji sugar from the 1962 crush. The sale will be worth well over the £lOO,OOO mark, perhaps not a great deal in the annual sugar earnings of about £8,000,000, but at least it is a leg in to one of the best sugar markets in the world. news, plus the fact that more than 10,000 farmers have signed the new contract which will run till 1970, puts a more favourable light on the economic hopes of Fiji.

The news of the sugar sale goes back about 18 months, when the United States started to re-allocate quotas that formally Cuba had.

The Fiji Financial Secretary (Mr.

Harry Ritchie) made a hurried trip to Washington last year when the annual US Sugar Act was about to expire, and the CSR also made an effort to get Fiji on to the band wagon. Unfortunately for Fiji, but understandably because of hemis pheric interests, most of the re-allo cation went to Latin American sugar producers, and the West Indies. Aus tralia and India were two areas out side the Americas to also benefit.

The story moved on a few months when the Government agreed to let brown rice from America into Fiji at concession rates.

Little was said of the reason for this, but high CSR officials admitted that it was in an attempt to get a leg into the United States sugar mar ket. The CSR marketing division kept hammering away in Washington, and early this year Mr. Ritchie, on his way back to Fiji from a success

ful loan raising mission in Lorn spoke up on behalf of Fiji.

The CSR Company must have t confident there would be an oi for extra sugar somewhere whei raised the 1962 target to 250,000 1 of sugar—sl,ooo tons more t needed for assured markets, and was before Cuba torpedoed International Sugar Agreement, even that has had no apparent ef for the announced target for 196: 235,000 tons, still 36,000 tons ab the assured market figure.

Mr. J. C. Potts, managing direc of South Pacific Sugar Mills Ltd., CSR Fiji subsidiary, warned that allocation of the 5,000 tons was o a single allocation, and not o tinuing. But, he added, when present US Sugar Act expires June 30 next, negotiations would a tinue to secure further allocations As the allocation has to come fr< the 1962 crush the two biggest m in Fiji, Lautoka and Rarawai, v open on May 1. The sugar has to delivered to the United States June 30, so it should not be diffic to meet the target.