Produce Prices

Unless otherwise stated, quotations are in Australian currency. Australian dollar (July 14) equals New Zealand, $1.0254 (buying), $1.0210 (selling); Fiji, $l.OBll (buying), $1.0571 (selling); Western Samoa, tala 0.8401 (buying), 0.7931 (selling); Tonga, pa'anga 0.8826 (buying), 0.8650 (selling); US, $1.3192 (buying), $1.3142 (selling); UK, £0.6017 (buying), £0.5965 (selling); French Pacific, CFP. 100.647 (buying), 99.169 (selling).

Copra

Copra industries are controlled through copra boards in PNG, the Solomons, the GEIC, both Samoas, Fiji, Tonga, the Cooks and the US Trust Territory. New Hebrides, French Polynesia and New Caledonia do not have boards and copra is either sold individually by growers to overseas buyers or used locally.

NEW GUINEA: The board, with planters' reps, directs distribution and sales and pays planters. Shipments are made to UK, European markets and to Australia and Japan, and coco nut oil mills on New Britain.

Prices, April 1, were: Per tonne, de livered main ports, hot-air dried, k 145; FMS, k 142; smoke-dried, kl4o.

FIJI:—The board fixes prices on Philippines '■oora, taking into account freight, taxes, selling costs, shrinkage, etc. The price is subsidised.

Prices on July 7 were: Fiji 1, $190; Fiji 2,

$171; Cas, $63.

NEW HEBRIDES: Copra sold direct by planters to France and Japan. Burns Philp paying on wharf, Vila or Santo, July 7 3500 NHF, July 11, 97.75 met francs.

US TRUST TERRITORY:—Ist grade, $2OO, 2nd grade, $l9O, 3rd grade, $lBO. Outer islands, $175, $165 and $155 ton for the three grades, if serviced by government ships, and $165, $155 and $145 if serviced by private ships.

COOK ISLANDS.—AII production is sold to Abels Ltd, Auckland. Prices are based on average world prices for the prior three or six months, and remain in force for three months.

GILBERT ISLANDS.—SI79.2O a ton, or 8c a pound.

WESTERN SAMOA:—Ist grade, SWSIO2; 2nd grade, $W589.50.

Other Produce

COCOA.—lslands rates are based on Ghana prices. Ghana price on July 14 was spot £stg 684 ton, c.i.f., UK, Continent.

July 14, in store, Rabaul, export quality, kBOO per tonne; delivered ex wharf Sydney $935 per tonne.

Solomons.—Delivered to Agriculture Dept, offices in Honiara and Auki, Recent price was 25c per lb dried beans first grade, 20c second grade COFFEE.—PNG, July 15: Good quality. A grade, 46c per lb; B grade, 44c; C grade, 42c; Y grade, 40c (ex-store Sydney).

W. Samoa. —Recently, WSTEC ground and dried beans, 60 sene per lb wholesale.

PEANUTS. PNG: Svdney agents reported recently f.0.b., Lae: Kernels —white Spanish 19c lb.

RICE fAustl: —PNG; Dried brown, 25 kilo bags, $298.94 per tonne. Vitamin enriched white, 25 kilo bags, $303.94 per tonne, all f.o.w. Sydney/Melbourne. f.o.w. Sydney/Melbourne. Pacific Islands; Calrose med. grain, white, 25 kilo bags, $3lO per tonne. Kulu long grain white, 25 kilo bags, $355 per tonne. All prices c.&f. Sydney/ Me ! bourne.

RUBBER.—Singapore, July 14: 37c a kilo.

VANILLA BEANS. Prices recently were: -."d 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.

Exchange Rates

FlJl.—Through Bank of NSW, ANZ Bank, Bank of NZ, Bank of Baroda, First National City Bank, Aust $ on Fiji $ buying SFI.OBIII

= Sai.

COOK 15.,, NIUE. —New Zealand currency is used.

NEW HEBRIDES.—Through Bank of NSW, ANZ Bank, Commercial Bank of Australia, National Bank of A'asia, Banque Nationale De Paris,!

Barclays Bank, Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corp, Mosbert Bank. SAI 89.19 New Heb ridean francs (buying); 87.98 (selling)—airmail] transfer rate.

WESTERN SAMOA.—Through Bank of Western Samoa, controlled from NZ, SWS Tala 1 = $A0.8041 (buying), $A0.7931 (selling).

TONGA. —Tongan dollar (pa'anga) = $A0.8826 (buying), $A0.8650 (selling).

Norfolk Is, Solomon Is, Geic, Nauru.—

Australian currency used; no exchange payable in transactions with Australia.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA.—PNG and Australian currency used; no exchange payable in trans-! actions with Australia.

FRENCH PACIFIC COLONIES.—Pacific francs (CFP) are used in New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna Is, and Fr Polynesia French Bank, Sydney, on July 15, quoted: SAI = 100.33 CFP (buying), 98.98 (selling). Paris-London, July 14: £1 - 9.1500 francs (buying), 9.1400 francs (selling). Pacific franc —London, July 14: £1 = 166 3636 CFP (buying), 166.1818 CFP (selling. CFP to 1 metropolitan franc 18.43, (buying), 17.94 (selling).

Banks should be approached for daily rates.

• Twenty-eight cruise ships carry ing 30,361 passengers called at Vila in 1974. The ships generally stayed for less than 12 hours. Projected for 1975 are 42 ships, which will make Vila the third busiest port for such ships in the South Pacific. Santo is in the list of ports-of-call for cruise ships from 1976. The number of visitors to the condominium in 1974, apart from those in cruise ships, was 17,247, a figure slightly higher than that for 1973. The average stay was 9.9 days.