CSR shares in 1973

Fiji Govt, will take over CSR shares in 1973

The Fiji Government will take over, by a transfer agreement, all the CSR Co. Ltd. shares in South Pacific Sugar Mills Ltd., CSR’s Fiji subsidi ary, in April, 1973. An agreement has also been negotiated covering most of the 77,000 acres of freehold land owned by CSR or SPSM, or other leased land.

In Suva late in February and early March a negotiating team from CSR, and representatives of the Fiji Govern ment, plus a select committee which recommended that CSR’s shares in SPSM be bought, discussed terms and conditions under which the govern ment could acquire the CSR holding in SPSM.

Fiji’s Natural Resources Minister, Mr. Doug Brown, said after the talks that except for a few technical details relating to the share purchase and the provision of future specialist and man agement services, terms of the agree ment had been agreed to in principle.

However, the price of the shares was still to be decided; it would be negotiated in three months of the signing of the share purchase agree ment or it would be decided by arbi tration.

PlM’s guess is that it will go to arbitration, for at an earlier meeting in Sydney discussions barely got off the ground because of differences of opinion about the price to be paid for the shares.

Significantly, Mr. Brown said nothing about who would run the in dustry in future, but he did not repea; an earlier categorical statement that the Fiji Government had no intention of nationalising the sugar industry.

Oil permit's announced

Successful applicants for petroleum exploration permits in four areas offshore from Papua, have been announced.

Seventeen applications were received for area three, near the Trobriand Islands. The successful applicant was a consortium of AMOC Australia Exploration Co. (50 per cent.), Australian Oil and Gas Cor poration Ltd. (33£ per cent.), and Southern Pacific Petroleum/N.L. (16-2/3 per cent.).

In area four, near the D’Entre casteaux Islands, the successful ap plicant was West Pacific Oil Pty. Ltd., a subsidiary of Gumanch Plantations Pty. Ltd., of Mt. Hagen.

Texaco Overseas Petroleum Co. was successful in area five (off Milne Bay), and Hematite Petroleum Pty.

Ltd., in area six (near the Louisiade

Archipelago).

In area seven, off Bougainville, three applicants are being invited to submit revised applications. The name of the successful applicant will be announced later.

Copra situation

Mr. K, G. Oliver, general manager of the P-NG Copra Marketing Board, reported on March 23; After a rather quiet start to the second week in March the soyabean oil market attracted increased dealer interest and a bullish sentiment brought a steadier tone in prices for Dutch oil. Groundnut oil lost some

of the recent price recovery, but this reaction was checked by the appear ance of interest at lower levels.

With some origin sellers not press ing for sale, the European market for copra showed some improvement dur ing that week and dealer trading in April/May shipments from the Philip pines or Indonesia ranged up to SUS2II per ton c.i.f. North Europe.

This compared with business done earlier in the week at down to SUS2O7± per ton c.i.f. The steadier trend in copra was reflected to some extent by Philippine coconut oil, but forward shipments traded at the lower level of SUS 294 per ton c.i.f. Rotter dam/Hamburg for June/July.