Papua's fast-growing

Business and

Decelopment

Papua's fast-growing Patair buys Stol

Papuan Air Transport, started in Port Moresby in 1952 with a capital of $5,000 and one ancient single-engined Waco biplane, in June acquired the assets of a Papuan air charter firm, Stol Air Services— and thus brought its fleet to 19 aircraft and its group turnover to more than $2.5 million a year.

It will have two more aircraft at the end of September, and the group’s managing director, Mr. Cliff Jackson, believes the sky’s the limit.

Cliff Jackson is one of the found ing partners of Papuan Air Trans port, which as a result of the Stol acquisition is now to be known as the Patair Group of companies.

Cliff Jackson arrived in New Guinea in 1946, as engineer for Guinea Air Traders and Gibbes Sepik Airways. He broke off in 1952 to go into equal partnership with Frank Goossens, then a pilot with Gibbes, in flying a charter aircraft in the Popondetta area. Goossens did the flying, Cliff somehow kept the Waco in the air (it was built in 1936) and Cliff’s wife, Thelma, did the bookwork. Profits were meagre and the future was very iffy.

Two years later, in 1954, a limited company was formed, which took in another pilot, Hank van Santen, as a shareholder and a director, and in 1955 there was a further enlarge ment of the shareholding, when a number of local planters, particularly the Kienzles, of the Mamba planta tions in the Yodda Valley, Kokoda, took an interest. Frank Goossens later left (he is now flying on the Barrier Reef).

Big step forward

The ancient Waco kept flying until only a few years ago—a picture of it now takes pride of place in Cliff Jackson’s office—and other aircraft were added slowly, an Anson, a Fox Moth, another Anson.

The big step forward came in January, 1962, when the airline got its licence to run scheduled services (in P-NG there are several types of airline licences). Cessnas, DC3’s,

Piaggios were added, and the com pany took an interest in Short Skyvans. It began paying a regular 10 per cent, dividend.

At the end of 1965 there came the beginning of the construction of The Gateway hotel, right at Jackson’s Airport—designed as the territory’s first luxury hotel. Patair formed Tourist Developments Pty.

Ltd. as the operating company. This, its first subsidiary, was financed from money entirely raised in the terri tory and Patair owns all the shares.

The hotel was an immediate success, and room occupancy figures vary these days between 87 and 99 per cent., with most months being in the nineties.

The launching of the hotel brought Patair into other interests, such as a liquor importing agency (Gateway Importers), a real estate company (Patair Investments) and the Patair Travel Bureau.

The purchase of Stol has added other interests and the full list of the Patair Group of companies now is; Papuan Airlines Pty. Ltd., Tourist Developments Pty. Ltd., Patair In vestments, Gateway Importers, Patair Travel Bureau, Patair Rent-a-Car, Stol Commutors Pty. Ltd.

Patair Rent-a-Car was one of Stol’s assets, under the name of Dekenai Rent-a-Car, but Patair has changed the name.

Stol itself was called Stol Air

Services but Cliff Jackson says th( new name gives a better idea o its work. Stol has three Piper Aztec and seven Cessnas—a 336 C, a 311 and five 185’s. Sixty per cent, o its work in the past has come fron Administration charters, and Patai has no plans to change its direction Stol has some real estate, includini a hangar at Dam, in Papua’s Westen district, and a staff of 50, There an six Holdens in its car renting busi ness.

The present Papuan Airlines’ flee comprises two DC3’s, two Piaggios two Piper Navajos, two Polatu; Porters, a 180 Cessna, and two Shor Skyvans to arrive at the end o September.

Total assets of the company whicl started in 1952 with $5,000 are nov conservatively worth more than million.

Decline in

copra prices

Chairman of the P-NG Copn Marketing Board, Mr. lan McDonald gave the following report on the world copra market in Port Moresby on June 21: The average Philippine price foi copra during May, expressed in Australian currency, was $A255.76,

Cliff Jackson, of the Patair Group.

luring May copra rose from 5A244 > $A262.40 later in the month, but nished at 5A259.35.

Since the end of May there has ;en quite a heavy decline in copra rices and it is understood that as at le date of writing this report, the rice has dropped to something in the icinity of 5A225. There is every idication that prices might go lower.

It is extremely difficult to offer ly explanation for this sudden drop l the market price of copra, hilippine copra exports have con nued to decline although exports of iconut oil have increased. Overall, le combined total over the period muary-April was considerably less lan for the same period last year, aim kernel oil exports have also sen declining, although there was a ight improvement in April.

On the whole, it looks as though wisumers have reached the stage here they can no longer continue uying Laurie oils at highly inflated rices, and have therefore been weed into accepting substitutes.

Also, in the world markets there as recently been a general weak ess in the whole of the liquid oil jetor. There have been sharp price eclines in soyabean oil, and also roundnut oil, and as a result of eavy near supplies, fish oil has Iso come under pressure.

However, sunflower oil has been le steadiest commodity over the ist few weeks.

By far the heaviest price decline as been in Laurie oils in the last lonth or so. It appears that the oom is finally over with the decline i supplies to the larger consuming reas having been stopped—consump on is apparently reacting to the scent high prices, Mr. McDonald dded.

With world copra prices recently t very high levels, all Pacific Island writories are currently benefiting, op grade Fiji copra is fetching best ver prices of nearly £FIOO a ton nd similiar Cook Islands copra 'as recently worth SNZ229 a ton.

But no territory has done better lan the New Hebrides, which last ear produced a best-ever 40,673 ictric tons of copra.

In 1967 the Condominium ex erted a total of 42,407 tons of copra which included stocks held over rom 1966), worth $A5,698,023.

Just why, apart from good prices, id the Condominium do so well in 967? PIM asked Mr. J. C. Stegler, lurns Philp (New Hebrides) Ltd. aanager at Vila, who gave five easons for the high copra produc ion.

These were: intensive New Hebridean planting since 1945; cleaner, weedless plantations; New Hebridean co-operatives fully exploit ing copra-growing areas; more fre quent inter-island ships calling at new ports and ideal weather con ditions.

Hopes for world

sugar agreement

The adjournment of the Inter national Sugar Conference in Geneva on June 1 is not a serious setback for Fiji, as was first thought, writes our finance roundsman.

Certainly no agreements on tonnages or sugar prices were made by the 80-odd countries represented at the talks, but further talks among a limited number of major pro ducers and importers of sugar are to be held in July, and it is possible that major talks will be resumed in September.

If the July talks go well, there is every chance that some agreement will be reached.

And any new agreement, particu larly on prices, should be beneficial to Fiji. World minimum sugar prices on the free market have been at low levels for several years, fluctuating only slightly.

Hopes are that price levels will

go up, and that prices will fluctuate at slightly higher prices per ton.

Fiji’s Chief Minister, Ratu K. K.

Mara, told PIM in Sydney in early June he didn’t regard the Geneva talks as a failure, even though they had been adjourned. His view was that the talks among the major pro ducers in July were “likely” to lead to sugar agreements.

More progress had been made at the May talks than at the corres ponding talks in 1965, he said.

The Colonial Sugar Refining Com pany Ltd. is, unofficially at least, cautiously optimistic.

The company was hardly surprised that the May talks didn’t come to any agreements although it had hoped for more concrete results.

It feels that with 80 different countries present, using a dozen or more different languages, it would have been almost an Amazon task for the agreements to come out of the seven-week talks.

With the July talks about to start, CSR feels that there is still a good chance new world-wide agreements will be in force from January 1 next year.

BSIP gets extra

grant from Britain

The Solomons have been provided with an extra grant from Britain to make up for the loss of British aid to the protectorate in the wake of devaluation of the British pound late last year. A draft development plan for 1968 and 1969 provides for an expenditure of SABi million.

Mr. L. M. Davies, the Acting High Commissioner of the BSIP, said this

Mr. Kenneth James Wrighton, of Beau maris, Victoria, has been appointed resident chief executive of the W. R.

Carpenter Group in New Guinea. He will take up the position in September.

Mr. Wrighton succeeds Mr. C. B. Bailey, who will relinquish his post at the end of the year. Mr. Wrighton, 51, was deputy chairman and managing director of Ball and Welch Ltd., Melbourne re tailers.

in his opening address to the Legislalive Council’s ninth session, which started on June 5.

He said the government would continue to attract and encourage private enterprise, co-operatives, overseas capital and the Solomon Islanders themselves to further develop the Solomons economy.

Because of the efforts of those engaged in the timber and copra industries, exports were the highestever in 1967—nearly $5 million.

Imports, however, were about $8,200,000, he said.

Mr. Davies commented on other features of the Solomons economy.

These included: • Copra and cocoa. Of the total copra production of 23,520 tons in 1967, Solomon Islanders produced over half. Cocoa production was 60 tons, compared with 95 tons in 1966.

O Timber. Exports doubled over the previous year and were worth over $1 million—“a splendid and encouraging result”, • Chillies. Hopes were that corn mercial planting would start. The West Kwaraae Co-operative Associa tion had produced 12 cwt. of dried chillies worth $250. • Tourism. Mr. Davies said that although some Solomon Islanders

had said that tourism would n necessarily be a blessing, it “mu not be stopped”. The Solomons cou not “afford to sidestep” benefits frc tourism. He added that it w, “likely” additional air services to ai from NG would be started. • Rice. Mr. Davies applaud! the recent rice harvest on Guad; canal Plains ( PIM, June, p. 33), ai said if forecasts were true, the BSI would be self-sufficient in rice mid-1969, and also exp ortir sorghum by this time. • Oil Palm. A decision would made by 1969 whether a large « palm scheme was an econoir proposition in the Solomons.

Big profit increase

for Kinjibi Holdings

Kinjibi Holdings Ltd., NG Hig lands coffee producer, has report a net profit of $20,159 for the ye ended December 31, 1967, a pro more than double that for t previous year despite a significa fall in coffee prices.

The 520 shareholders of the coi pany, mostly residents of New Sou Wales, will not receive a dividen however.

With a paid-up capital of just ov $280,000, Kinjibi owns and operat two coffee plantations—Kinjibi, ne: Banz, and Norikori, near Kainantu In 1967 both plantations increas* their output of coffee; Kinjibi pr duced 99.54 tons and Norikori pr duced 36.6 tons. However, avera,. prices realised for the coffee ha shown a steady decline, from 38 cents a lb in 1965 to 33 cents a last year, for the Kinjibi coffee.

The company’s chairman, Mr, I E. Corben, in his address to shar holders on June 26, said an out-c court settlement of $15,550 worn be made to Messrs. Ferguson an Mathew. This would finally end s action Ferguson and Mathew hs taken against Kinjibi in 1959. (The settlement represented clain Messrs. Ferguson and Mathew mao against Kinjibi on share transff activities in the late 1950’5.) Mr. Corben said that because < the settlement no dividend could 1 paid for 1967.

Kinjibi’s store at Madang had bee sold for $30,000, resulting in a loc of $10,363, he said.

Mr. Corben said the Noriko: Plantation had been advertised fo sale so the company could full develop its other plantation. How ever, no offer had been received thii directors considered worthwhile.