Pacific Commerce and Produce

Price For Copra

Takes A Tumble

In Europe

After several months of con

tinually rising copra prices, there

was a sudden drop in the c.i.f.

UK/Continent price for Philip

pines FM copra at the beginning of July, and this is likely to con tinue for several months.

ON July 22, the London Copra Association was quoting £79/15/- Sterling a ton, which was £l5 a ton lower than the average for June.

Commenting on the drop, the chair man of the P-NG Copra Marketing Board, Mr. lan McDonald, said: “The reason for it is almost as obscure as was the reason for the rise, except that it did appear that the rise was due to intensive buying of coconut oil by the US which had the effect of making supplies to Europe hard to come by.

“At present the market for edible oils is, if anything, bearish and this attitude is based mainly on the ex pectation of a large soyabean crop in the US, together with more ground

nuts from Africa and increasing supplies of butter in Europe.

“In the face of such prospects further sizeable price declines later this year must be anticipated. How ever, against this is the fact that the supply and demand position is so much in balance that it would take little to upset it, and the recent devas tating typhoon in the Philippines could quite easily tip the balance.

“Seasonal conditions in the US for soyabean have not been good either, with dry conditions and very cool to cold weather.

“While I would not be surprised to see the present drop in prices continue over the next month or so, I think they are almost sure to firm around October this year, “Copra production in Papua-New Guinea for the first six month this year is well up by a little over 3,000 tons, compared with the same period in 1964.

“The final price distribution for copra delivered during 1964 was de clared at almost £l2/19/- a ton, and paid on July 15. The total distribu tion amounted to a little over £1,375,716, bringing the final price for copra delivered during 1964 to £74/9/- a ton for Hotair grade, £72/19/- a ton for FMS and £7l/19/a ton for Smoke grade.

“In the meantime, action is in hand to make the recent increase of £lO a ton in the tentative price retro spective to January 1, 1965.

“Tentative prices at present are: Hotair grade, £7l/10/- per ton; FMS, £7O; Smoke, £69.”

Meanwhile, two other Pacific terri tories where the marketing of copra is controlled, are enjoying higher prices for their product.

The BSIP prices were raised on July 1 to £7O for Ist grade, £6B for 2nd grade and £63 for 3rd grade, a general lift of £6 a ton.

The Tonga Copra Board, from June 1, increased the price of coco nuts by 20 per cent, from 2id to 3d each, and the copra price from £6B/15/- to £74/12/6 a ton.

Stalemate Over

P-NG Rice Price

THE P-NG Administration and Aus tralian rice millers in late July were still deadlocked over the rice prices for 1965. Australian rice ship ments for P-NG are still continuing at last year’s prices (£5B/10/- per

ton, brown; £65 per ton, white, vi minised) pending the resolving negotiations between exporting co: panics, the Rice Marketing Board a the Department of Territories. T new price is usually settled by Ma> each year.

This year the millers proposed increase of 30/- per ton but the A ministration countered with a requ that the price be £1 a ton less th last year. The rice millers asked 1 maintenance of the old figure but 1 Administration held out for a redi tion, giving as reasons the need protect the P-NG plantation indus and maintain stable food prices. 1 rice is used as native rations.

It was also pointed out to the r millers that they had assured mark in the Territory and prospects expansion. In 1963-4 rice exports P-NG were worth about £1.5 mill: to Australian rice growers.

There was a similar deadlock ab 10 years ago, when the Administ tion threatened to import cheaper ( poorer quality) rice from Japan uni its price limit was met.

Dutch Bond Details

Now Available

THE Netherlands Consulate-Gem in Sydney told PIM in July t between the Netherlands Bank Amsterdam and the Bank of In nesia at Djakarta an agreement been reached regarding the transfer the Netherlands of certain shares bonds deposited with Indones banks, and that this could be

nterest to former residents of Indo lesia now living in the South Pacific.

Detailed particulars—available only o Dutch—may be had from the Con ulate-General, GPO Box 4152, Syd icy,

>-NG Timber

ixpansion Plans

VAST new areas” of P-NG are to oe opened up for timber pro ucfion, the Australian Territories linister, Mr. C. E. Barnes, nnounced in July.

He said timber production would e trebled in the next five years, his would increase log output from le present 105 million super feet to lore than 300 million super feet., he Government “wanted to attract ig companies into the field” to invest 1 port and road development, saw lilling and various forms of process ig—including paper and pulp and lemical by-products.

The Administration would employ consultants to accelerate the d proposed. The main new areas to ; thrown open for development ould be: • Forests in the central region of ew Britain covering about two illion acres, of which one-third ►uld be regarded as economically cessible. These stands contained an timated 3,000 million super feet. • Forests of approximately 120,000 res in the Jimmi River area, Wes rn Highlands. These include stands valuable klinki pine estimated at K) million super feet. • A forest area of 750,000 acres, timated to carry 2,000 million super et of merchantable timber, in the :inity of Vanimo Harbour, in the pik.

ess For Fiji

ugor Crop

'HE CSR Co. Ltd. chairman, Mr.

J. W. Dunlop, in July gave ji a clear warning that the return Dm the 1965 crop will be much kver than that of 1964 and the 00m” year of 1963, when the free >rld price rose to more than tg.loo a ton.

Estimated raw sugar production 317,000 tons in 1965 will earn ly about £l2 million. Fortunately, le of about half of it is guaranteed.

Under the Commonwealth Sugar p-eement the Colony will sell 0,000 tons this year at £Stg.46 a ti, and the United States will take ,000 tons, at prices not disclosed.

The remaining 137,000 tons, if they n all be sold, will be at depressed >rld prices. (Early in July the free

world price was about £Stg.2o a ton, and it looked like dropping further.) Mr. Dunlop was not pessimistic about the future, and indicated that a new market, a refinery in Malaysia would be of considerable benefit to both Australia and Fiji, as major suppliers of raw sugar.

What's The Value Of

"Post" Shares?

WHEN the Melbourne Herald group took over the South Pacific Post Ltd. (owners of sub stantial newspaper and printing properties in Papua and New Guinea) in February, by acquiring from the Yaffa Syndicate, of Sydney, some 32,890 of the 49,908 issued £1 shares, the other shareholders in South Pacific Post Ltd. were enviously re garded as people who had won a lottery, or had had a gold brick dropped in their laps.

The Melbourne Herald people paid for the SPP shares with an issue at par of Melbourne Herald common stock; and as the latter ranks high on the Australian stock exchanges it was calculated at the time that the Melbourne company paid approxi mately £l5 Australian for the 32,890 shares in SPP Ltd.

Naturally, the remaining share holders in SPP Ltd. purred loudly: it appeared that their 17,000 SPP shares (approximately) were worth £l5 each, instead of something between £3 and £5, hitherto estimated.

According to lists issued three or four years ago, those 17,000 shares were spread among 20 separate share holders and, according to the same lists, the following were the principal holders : Mr. and Mrs. Harry Starr, of Lae 3 000 H. S. and W. A. Kienzle, of Yodda Valle y 2,500 R. H. Stares 750 Fred P. Archer, of Rabaul . . . . 750 E. P. Glover, of Sydney 2,700 J. W. and P. M. Drake 600 J. I. Cromie, of Port Moresby . . 450 K. R. Gollan, of Sydney 4,125 Since the Melbourne Herald take over, a number of things have happened. Some of the holders thought they might turn some of their shares into something more negotiable even cash and ap proached the Herald. To their dis may, they were very courteously but firmly informed that the Melbourne Herald did not propose to buy any more SPP shares.

Under the SPP Articles, share holders may not sell their shares until they have been offered to existing shareholders, and declined. But the

people concerned find small comfort in that.

They have been assured that they may expect an annual dividend of not less than 30 per cent.—and 30 per cent, is an exciting return on shares which cost only £l. But 30 per cent, is only 2 per cent, on £l5, so it is most unlikely that anyone will pay £l5 each for these shares.

The most that could be expected in the circumstances is £5 or £6.

It is disappointing, of course, to holders who hoped that each share would be worth £ls—but few people can complain when their £1 shares can be sold for £5 or £6.

But it is the people who are studying the death-duties angle who really are wailing a little. If the parties most concerned valued the shares at around £l5 at the time of the take-over—which apparently they did —then the tax-gatherer, who rarely misses a pass, is likely to put the same figure on them when assess ing estate or probate duties.

Some of the shareholders, making the usual careful provision for the future of their dependants, seem to think that the SPP shares, if retained in their estates, could in the circum stances prove a bit of a bomb.

It is reported that one small group of the “lucky” shareholders is plan ning to ask the directors of Herald and Weekly Times Ltd. to help them to clarify the position!

Operations Finish

THE British Solomons Forestry Company has wound up its timber operations on Baga Island.

A company statement says limited information available when the com pany began pilot operations in 1963 resulted in miscalculations of the amount of timber available on Baga, distribution of stands and the nature of the terrain. The company suffered considerable losses last year through the slack state of the Japanese market for logs. The company is now ex ploring possibilities of exploring timber on Vangunu Island, BSIP.

Misima Production

In About Two Years

PRODUCTION at the Misima gold mine should start 18 months or so after February, 1966, Mr. G. W.

Noe, chairman, told shareholders at the annual meeting of Pacific Island Mines Ltd. in July.

He expressed satisfaction at progress made so far, and said he was confident of the success of the venture.

In his annual report Mr. Noe said that technical problems had made core recovery in lode zones in sufficient to allow reliable evaluations.

However, techniques were continually being improved and as the operators became more familiar with the behaviour of the ground in which they were working, it was expected that core recoveries would achieve satisfactory levels.

Because of the low recoveries and the nature of gold occurrence in the oxidised zone, it had not yet been possible to properly evaluate gold values.

But silver values were higher than

encountered by PI Mines in previ* operations.

Mr. Noe said that on March a special prospecting authority > granted by the P-NG Administrat to PI Mines over the whole of Sue Island.

However, in the interest of c centrating the company’s efforts Misima, it was decided to defer act on Sudest and, at PI Mines’ requ the Administration withdrew authority.

Niue Dismayed

By Kumara Trouble

GROWERS of kumaras on h recently received dismay news that the island’s kumaras v infected with kumara weevil and ports to New Zealand had to prohibited.

Exports of these from the isl are valued at about £lO,OOO annm and the loss of this money would a severe blow to the island.

From June to December h exports provide supplies when New Zealand crop is not availa but this kumara weevil is not pre; in New Zealand and could endar the New Zealand kumara.

Hopes are held that the prob will be overcome and the h Administration and the New Zeal Government are doing all they < Fumigation to kill the weevil i; be tried. But as the fumigation was not available on the island the first trial shipment on the Mi in June, a supply of methyl bron was dropped by an RNZAF Sun land. She made two runs over dropping zone at Vaiea farm, € time dropping a canister contaii the supplies. Both drops were cessful.

Bulolo's Profit Dow

THE net profit of Bulolo C Dredging Ltd. fell sharply the latest financial year, in line ’ a substantial drop in gold outpu The profit was 105,300 do! (US), compared with 297,700 do! in 1963-64 and 423,575 dollars 1962-63. The gold production 8,718 oz, compared with 9,400 o 1963-64.

The directors reported that reduced profit was caused by poor results obtained by No: dredge. This dredge was closed] cently after a major accident tc digging ladder.

Mining exploration has 1 actively carried out on the m land of Australia, Tasmania and