approved

Exchange Rates

J,, oT T M7° U9 B h ? ank * ° f . NSW ' ANZ B r n f of Ba r r .° da i First National onfl| nk ’ S l t er,m 9 £ on . F| M $, buying £1 = Z.OSS; selling £1 = $ 2 .l 1. Aust. $ on Fiji buying $A1.0117 = SFI, selling $A1.0288 ?L E a STE rn N t S S M . OA /~ Th . r ° u 9 h Bank of Western fala° i r ° Cd fr ° m NZ ' Se ler * AI - 2470 t 0

Norfolk Is., Papua New Gulnea.—Aus

ilian currency used; no exchange payable in msactions with Australia. =RENCH PACIFIC COLONIES.-Pacific francs P) ere used in New Caledonia, New Hebrides l .?n t i V i Wlth j US l ralian dollars), Wallis and j U JI* ls> ' and l T - Polynesia. French Bank, f p™?p M p y f 2, qUOted: Selling ' Noumea 3 Papeete, p ac francs to the sAust„ 107 73 mniercial—export and import transactions), nc/ ( fl . nanc| al)—nearly all other transac ns). Pans-London: Buying, 13.1075 francs to £ (commercial); 12.8100 francs to the £ ) £ „ equa ? s 238.0454 (buying), [•8636 (selling) Pac. francs; 5.50 CFP to 1 tropolitan franc.

Janks should be approached for daily quotes.

NEW HEBRIDES: Copra sold direct by planters to France and japan. Official market price on April 15 was $3O. Marseilles 76.50 French francs (per 100 kilos) May 5.

COOK IS.: —Copra goes to Abels, Ltd., of Auckland, who operates NZ's copra crushing mill. Prices for April fo June, packed, shipping weights f.0.b., were fixed at SNZiO3.S2 Ist grade, hot air dried, $NZ101.45. Ist grade sun dried, and SNZy9.BB standard grade.

Us Trust Territory: $102.50 (Grade 1),

$92.50 (grade 2), $85.50 (grade 3), delivered district centres; $9O (grade 1), $BO (grade 2) $7O (grade 3), picked up outer islands.

Other Produce

BECHE-OE-MER: Chang Sing Loong Co.

Suva, quote 45c (4 in. to 10 in.).

Honiara.—Live slugs, over six inches, black —six for 10c, other colours—l2 for 10c CHILLIES.—SoIomons, Honiara, Tabasco, grade one. dried 22c per lb; long red, grade one dried, 12c per lb.

COCOA.—lslands rates are based on Ghana prices. Ghana price on Apr. 20 (Jan./Mar shipment) was spot £stg.24o ton, c.i.f.; UK Continent.

Apr. 20, Quote No 1: In store Rabaul export quality, $420 per ton, delivered ex wharf Sydney, $490. Quote No. 2: Best quality in store NG ports, $420 (July shipment)?

Solomons.—4 cents a lb delivered to a fermentary, 3 cents a lb at buying points PNG: Apr. 20, good quality, A grade, 36c per lb; B grade, 33£c ; C grade, 31 c ; Y grade, 30£c (ex-store Sydney).

W Samoa.—Recently, WSTEC ground and dried beans, 49 sene per lb (wholesale).

CROCODILE SKlNS.—Honiara: $1.89 to $2 25 per sq. in.

Green Snail Shell.—S3So A Ton Fob

(nominal).

PAPUAN GUM.—Graded gum $215 per ton, f.o.b.

PASSIONFRUIT.—Cook Islands, Islands Foods Ltd. pays growers NZ2.5c per lb for good fruit PAPAW.—Cook Islands, Island Foods Ltd pays growers NZ2c per lb for good fruit.

PEANUTS. P-NG: Sydney agents reported recently f.0.b., Lae; Kernels—white Spanish l/.25c lb.

PEARL SHELL.—Torres Strait Pearlshellers' Assn, has no recent quotes. Solomons.— Honiara, mother of pearl blacklip 14c-16c lb, goldlip 18c lb. Cook Islands.—Penrhyn, 20-25 c per lb, del. Rarotonga 33-35 c per lb.' French Polynesia.—Tuamotu, Gambier shells, to $l,OOO per ton, Papeete.

PYRETHRUM.—NG growers 17c lb, flower* RICE (Aust.):—PNG: Dried brown, 112 lb bags, $ll5 a ton, 40 lb bags, $125 a ton vitamin enriched white, 56 lb bags, $127 a ton; all f.o.w. Sydney/Melbourne. Pacific Is lands: Calrose med. grain, white, 56 lb bags, SAI2B-SAI33 a long ton. Kulu long grain white! 56 lb bags, SAI64-SAI67 a long ton. AH prices f.o.w. Sydney/Melbourne.

RUBBER.—PNG prices are based on Singapore r ates which on May 5 were.- No. 1 RSS (Malayan cents a kilo fob). May, 90.50-94 50- June, 91.00-93.50; July, 91.75-94.00 SANDALWOOD.—New Hebrides, landed on the beach, Vila and Santo, no recent quotes.

SHARKS FINS.— Chang Sing Loong Co., Suva, offers 75c per lb for Ist quality, 45c for mixed quality.

TROCHUS.—BSIP 4c (uncleaned), 5c (cleaned) per lb.

TURTLE SHELL.—BSI; 20c to $1.20 per lb, depending on size and quality.

VANILLA BEANS. Prices recently were: White and yellow label processed standard packs, $7.50; green label $7.40, c.i.f., Sydney.

Tonga.—sT4.2o, f.0.b., Nukualofa; $T4.50, Mel bourne.

Uk, Us Quotes

RUBBER.—London, No. 1 RSS spot (per kilo), Mav 5, prompt shipment, 14.38 p (c. and f.'. , n? Pß^iVr!^i ND ?. N ' May J l ' Philippines, in bulk, SUSI47£ (June reseller) per long ton c.i.f., UK/North European ports,- US Pacific coast, b SUSII6, s SUSI2S.

Coconut Oil (Ceylon)—London, May 11,

Estg.lo4 (May/June).

NG Coffee plan

approved

The new Papua New Guinea Cabinet has endorsed a proposal by the Papua New Guinea Coffee Mar keting Board for a coffee acquisition scheme, whereby the board will buy unsold coffee and hold it until the market improves. The growers’ levy will be raised from ic to 2c a lb.

The scheme was foreshadowed in PIM, May (p. 93). The decision to support the board’s proposal was one of the first decisions made by the new Cabinet, and the plan will now have to be approved by the Aus tralian Government—which will have to go guarantor for the $2.5m. which may be required. PNG currently has a surplus of about 6,000 tons of coffee.

Australian Minister for Territories, Mr. Andrew Peacock, said at the opening of the Goroka Show in May that the Australian Government “was ready to help” with the acquisition scheme.

PNG is also selling coffee on new overseas markets to help alleviate the depressed prices. The board in addition has stopped the sale of PNG coffee for other than world prices, unless the coffee has already been sold by forward orders. It is doing this by refusing to give export per mits for coffee sold at lower prices.