future money-earner

Business and

XDevelop>mexit

Timber seen as Fiji's biggest future money-earner

By a staff writer

Fiji’s Conservator of Forests, Mr. G. Watkins, visited Australia in February to gather information to help him give Fiji’s disorganised timber industry a new deal.

Ie is currently engaged in a series of moves designed to strengthen [ sections of the industry—millers, lolesalers and builders —and at the me time safeguard Fiji’s forests.

He is handling things in two phases -a short-term five-year plan covering •66 to 1970 and a long-term plan follow. The short-term plan is signed to remedy the colony’s im ediate ills in the timber industry.

The worst of these ills are too many wmills and no proper marketing or ;atment arrangements.

Fiji has more than 60 mills, when should be supporting about 20.

Many of its existing mills are small id inefficient, engaged in wasteful impetition with each other—selling rect and cutting prices to get busi es.

Oregon imported

At their present rate of cutting, r. Watkins believes they would cut it the colony’s resources by the end the century merely by attempting meet local consumption.

But despite these local activities, iji still imports a third of its timber ;eds in the form of Oregon from anada.

Local builders generally prefer the egon and, of course, the Fiji un iting firms are happy to continue lying and selling it. Oregon needs treatment.

To raise the depressed local in istry there must be an assured sup y of new timber for cutting, in cident millers must be weeded out, iere must be proper treatment for cal softwoods to enable them to impete competitively with the im plied Oregon, and there must be ■ganised non-throat cutting market [g arrangements.

Fiji is meeting the first requirement / increased reafforestation. It plans > replant 4,000 acres a year by

1970 (compared with 500 acres a year in 1950) and is well on the way.

The figure for 1966 was 3,800 acres planted, and Mr. Watkins sees no dif ficulty about reaching this target.

The replanting is half softwood and half hardwood—mainly pine species and Honduras mahogany. All

are growing exceptionally well.

This replanting figure has been estimated on the basis that Fiji’s annual consumption of timber will increase from 7 cubic feet a person to 14 cubic feet by the end of the century.

Requirement number two will be met by ordering that mills be licensed, and that certain minimum require ments be met before licences are granted. The mills are being given two years to reorganise to meet the

licensing requirements, and un

doutedly the inefficient mills will not survive.

The treatment of the timber and the organisation of the marketing are being tackled together. The Oregon

importers—mainly the big trading

firms in Fiji—have agreed to put in treatment plants and take over market ing of local timbers.

This will give them the income they will lose when Oregon imports eventually are stopped—for the ban on Oregon is an important part of the reorganisation. It will not be done suddenly, but Oregon imports will be allowed to taper off as local wood takes over. One treatment plant is already under construction.

Mr. Watkins and his team know that there is no use banning Oregon unless the local timbers can do the job, and they are satisfied that the local ones can with proper treat ment.

“Oregon is a fine timber—there can be no disputing that,” says Mr.

Watkins.

“Nobody is attacking Oregon. But Fiji has kauvula and a wide range

of other species which can replace Oregon with the right treatment.

“Local builders have been pre judiced against these timbers, but they can be treated to give better protection against insects and decay than Oregon has in Fiji, and these timbers have less knots than Oregon has. Treatment is the answer.”

A change in Fiji building regula tions, resulting in local timbers be ing stipulated, will also help the changeover from imported timbers to local ones.

Building regulations, timber utilisa tion and research are some of the things Mr. Watkins has been look ing at in Australia. He plans to ex pand Fiji’s utilisation section.

He also plans to find out in this next five years just what forests Fiji has. A team from the Directorate of Overseas Surveys, England, will prove the forests in exact figures and also, incidentally, allow the local de partment to know the best place foi sawmills to operate. The first man from this team has recently arrived in Fiji.

"Challenging and exciting"

The team will mark out permanent forests, for Fiji is also looking for protective as well as productive re serves. And for nature reserves near towns.

All this will be done in the first five years.

It is the long-term plan that especi ally excites Mr. Watkins, and enables him to regard his present job, which

he has held since 1964, although he has been in Fiji seven years, as “one of the most challenging and exciting forestry jobs in the world”.

In the long term Mr. Watkins be lieves that Fiji’s quick growing species could mean the building up of timber as Fiji’s biggest industry—bigger than copra, sugar or tourism.

He is excited about the nearness of markets for paper pulp, and the grow ing need of paper in Asia.

He is hopeful of encouraging a combine to establish a paper pulp factory in the colony, and an export industry in mahogany, sawn timber and veneers.

Logs won’t be exported, for this way you are exporting material that could be used to employ labour at home.

“But how right are we in our assessment of Fiji’s forestry potential?” asks Mr. Watkins. “To find out we have asked the UN Special Fund for help, and the first three men arrive in March on the preliminary investigation. If we are right, and there is the export potential we think there is, then we will involve ourselves in a second five-year plan from 1970-75.”

Copra prices up

-and down

Philippine fm prices firmed early in February to around £Stg.6B/10/- a ton, or about £3 better than the average price of £65/10/for January.

However, there was a sudden drop to £67/1/8 on January 10, and on the present weak market prices could go lower, although it is unlikely that the average for February will fall be low the January level.

The chairman of the P-NG Copra Marketing Board, Mr. lan McDonald, said in Port Moresby on February 28 that the market had reacted in line with the general weakness in US soyabeans.

To a great extent the immediate trend of oilseed prices would depend on what moves were made by soya bean producers in the US—whether they would sell at present prices (in which case there would almost cer tainly be a further price decline), or whether they would continue to hold, as they are doing at present. ‘There are a number of other un certain factors in the market, not the least being current international political developments such as peace moves in Vietnam,” Mr. McDonald said.

“These could mean more steadiness, and, particularly in the case of copra, whether or not supply pressure of

closely competing commodities such as US lard or USSR sunflower will be kept up.

“Generally, it appears that there will not be any marked change in present trends over the next month or two, but improved demand, par ticularly in stock meals, might bring about a moderate recovery in prices.”

Interest in Niue

passionfruit

THE factory manager of Sunripe Products Company, of Auckland, visited Niue recently to investigate the economics of a local passionfruit industry.

Some passionfruit is already being grown by the Agriculture Department at Fonuakula, but if an industry was started some 50 acres of passionfruit would have to be cultivated.

A passionfruit industry is just another of the industries which the Niue Government is interested in trying to attract to develop the island.

Recently an expert on honey ar rived to see if the current small honey industry could be expanded.

Exports from Niue are generally low. Banana exports fluctuate be tween 5,000 and 7,000 cases a year, though limes are a continuing export and papaws have recently been exported in special containers— each papaw being individually packed as an experiment, as papaws don’t travel well and Niue is a little too far from the market in New Zealand by the indirect route the Tofua takes.

In addition, some boxes of the vi, or Tahitian pear, have been sent out recently.

Kumaras, which used to be a big export to New Zealand, have been restricted in the last year or two because of the discovery of the kumara weevil.

Niue basketware provides a steady income, but it is a cottage industry.

Copra is the main export and it is on this that the recently established Economic Development Board is con centrating.

Fiji mineral survey

brings results

NEARLY three-quarters of Fiji had been geologically mapped by the end of last year.

A summary of progress by the colony’s Geological Survey Depart ment says that planning is now being mainly devoted to the development of outstations and marine transport for mapping the outlying islands; further development of laboratory facilities for expanded geo-chemical

work and rock analysis; the expansii of the gold mining industry by surfa* exploration; and broadening the bar of the mineral industry by encours ing major exploration companies visit Fiji.

Several major exploration cok panics have been informed of a wea mineralised area of about 800 squs miles in the south-east of the ms island of Viti Levu.

This has resulted in specific pn posals for active exploration beil made to the Mining Board.

One large Australian exploratia company is already operating in Vs Levu.

P-NG turns down

US mining firm

A UNITED STATES compan the American Smelting and R! fining Company has been refused © elusive prospecting rights over a 7* square miles area in the Bainings dl trict of New Britain, near Rabaul..

This was stated in the P-NG Geo eminent Gazette of February 16..

The P-NG Administrator, M D. O. Hay, commenting on the i fusal next day, said the compan had failed to convince the Admin’i tration of the worth of its prosper ing programme.

The 700 square miles sought I the American Smelting and Refiniii Company is adjacent to an area whiti was declared a mining reserve by tlj Administration about six months a@ The reserve was declared aftf native villagers handed in ro« samples containing copper to th local member of the House Assembly, Mr. Roy Ashton, (Pl} June, 1966, p. 142).

Mr. Hay said American Smeltiii still had the right to prospect in tlj area by virtue of a prospecting p© mit granted by the P-NG miniij warden, Mr. H. J, McKenzie, las last year.

Mr. McKenzie granted the perm after discussions with representative of the people from six villages the permit area, known as the Bail ings.

The people told him that thoi would be quite happy to have tlj company prospect for copper on th© land and exploit any deposit foundt

W. R. Carpenter's

profit lower

W. R. Carpenter Holdings Lto island trader, which has record of 23 successive annual iii creases in net profit, earned a slight! lower net profit in the half-year t

cember 31, 1966, than in the last months of 1965.

Directors announced the lower >fit in an addendum to the com ny’s interim report issued in late bruary. [ncome from investments which are 'd mostly by the parent company, s fully maintained, they said. [n the interim report, the directors d they were holding interim r idend at per cent.

They expected group profits for the 1 year to June 30 would be “satis :tory”.

At the annual meeting last wember, the chairman, Mr. R. B. rpenter, warned that the company ght not be able to maintain its 55-66 earning rate in the current it.

He said the main reason for this s low copra income because of >ught conditions in New Guinea.

However, merchandise sales out e Australia had been maintained i cocoa prices were at the highest r el quoted over the last three irs.

hoiseul makes

onus issue

Hoiseul Plantations Ltd.,

New Guinea and Solomon ands plantation owner, made a e-for-one bonus issue of its dollar ires to shareholders on January 31.

This doubled capital to $1,800,000.

Directors said the bonus issue Dught issued capital more into e with earnings. In 1966 the earn ; rate of profits was 43.8 per it. The dividend was 18 per cent, t year and 27 i per cent, in 1965.