Food products

Title

Food products

Creator

MaGee, G. L.

Language

English

Source

The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume XXVII (Issue No. 7) July 1951

Year

1951

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

238 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL July, 1951 An IMPORTANT PERSON In Your Life Here is the important young lady upon whose finger tips depend much of your daily life’s routines —your telephone operator. She helps your words of romance, friendship, busi ness, speed on their way to any point around the world. Her qualities are part of her tradition. There still is a scarcity of telephone materials, but there never has been a scarcity of the operator’s devotion to duty. The operator, with her patience, industry and cour tesy, is an important person in your life. PHILIPPINE LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE COMPANY Marquez de Comillas, Manila OUR POLICY: The best possible service at the lowest cost consistent with financial safety and fair treatment of employees. Food Products By G. L. MaGee Trading Division Marsman Company, Inc. ACCORDING to reliable estimates, between $30,000,000 and $40,000,000 were made available for the importation of foodstuffs during the second quarter of 1951, licenses for which were approved. Approximately 40% of the total provided for evaporated, condensed, natural, and powdered milk, 10% for rice, 7% for wheat flour, 13% for canned fish, 12% for canned meat products, 11% for coffee beans, all of which come under the com modities which have been decontrolled, while licenses for controlled commodities amounted to less than 5% of the total. A considerable portion of this merchandise has already arrived and is rapidly moving into consumption. This applies especially to canned fish, milk, tinned meat, and coffee beans. There will be further heavy arrivals during July, with most of the rest due during August. Beginning July 1, import licensing will be under the direction of a new Import Control Administration, provided for in legislation passed at the last session of the Philippine Congress. The new import control body is now in process of being organized; but until rules and regulations have been definitely promulgated, importers are not in a position to make commitments. Milk products, both evaporated and condensed, are now in plentiful supply in the market, with most brands being offered at prices below PRISCO ceilings. Consumer demand, however, continues firm with indication that the country’s total consumption will be above average. Retail milk prices have also declined, with the result that milk has become one of the best food values available to the general public. Due to shortage of California supplies, importation of canned fish, especially sardines and pilchards, was in considerable lower volume than in previous months. Fairly adequate importations of Alaskan salmon arrived during the month, along with nominal quantities of squid, abalone, and other fish products. With the rainy season approaching, market stocks of all kinds of canned fish will be in more active demand with the prospect that wholesalers’ prices will be firm. Good quantities of canned meats, especially corned beef, Vienna sausage, and potted meats, arrived during the past month, and further stocks are on the way. Since the market has been bare of this merchandise for some time, demand is brisk; retailers have been short of these foods which are very salable during the rainy months. PRISCO’S flour stocks acquired at International Wheat Agreement prices appear to be on the long side, with further arrivals due early July. In addition, pur chases made by private importers at higher prices outside of IWA are also due in July and August. To facilitate the movement of flour more rapidly to consumers and bakers, PRISCO closed an arrangement with a group of Filipino businessmen to handle the flour sales on a com mission basis. Similar methods are also being perfected in Cebu and Iloilo. Flour importers who will now have flour purchased at the higher non-IWA prices are concerned over PRIS CO’S failure thus far to permit higher ceiling prices. As far as American brands are concerned, the present ceiling will not permit a profit on these higher-priced importations. Beginning August 1, it will again be possible to buy flour under the terms of the International Wheat Agree ment. While it is likely that business will be channeled through private importers, probably on a quota basis, no procedure for licensing has yet been announced. July, 1951 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 239 It is estimated that flour supplies on hand or to arrive will amply take care of the country’s requirements for 8 to 10 weeks. Consequently, buying under new IWA prices may be deferred. Since the country’s rice production will be insufficient for normal needs, importation of this cereal will shortly be arranged. PRISCO will complete contracts soon, in volving an expenditure of more than $3,000,000. The country’s requirements for foodstuffs, both lo cally produced and imported, are at present more ade quately covered than has been the case for some months. While many luxury items may be lacking, the prime neces sities will be available throughout the country at reason able prices to the consumer. Textiles By W. V. Saussotte General Manager Neuss, Hesslein Co., Inc. THE new import control law, Republic Act No. 650, be came effective on July 1 and in accordance with certain provisions thereof, PRISCO and the old Import Control Administration were divested of their licensing authority as of the 30th of June. Republic Act No. 65.0 provides that all imports which previously were decontrolled by Executive Orders will continue to be decontrolled. All other imports are con sidered as “controlled” and are divided into essential and non-essential imports. Essential imports are those which appear in Appendix A of Republic Act No. 650, whereas non-essential imports are those which do not appear in Appendix A or which are not decontrolled. On July 2 the Monetary Board of the Central Bank allocated to the new Import Control Commission $94,000,000 for essential imports and $43,000,000 for non-essential imports to cover the period from July 1 to December 31 of this year. The status of most textile items Under the new import control regulations is at present uncertain because the contents of Appendix A, in its final form, still have not been deter mined by the import control authorities. Clarification is expected sometime during the middle of July. Due to the liberal licensing of decontrolled textile items by PRISCO during the month of June, local prices have dropped on an average of about 40% from their previous highs and in some instances the drop has been as much as 50%. During June arrivals from the United States- total 6,110 packages, including 1,430 packages of cotton piece goods and 440 packages of rayon piece goods. Included also were 1,470 packages of cotton seine twine and wrap ping twine, and 198 packages of cotton sewing thread. Arrivals of all textiles from other countries, including made-up-goods, consisted of 1,485 packages from Japan. 137 from China, 162 from Europe, and 814 from India, the latter consisting entirely of Hessian cloth and Fiji cloth. June’s total arrivals from all sources amounted to 8,708 packages, representing approximately half of May’s arrivals. This reduction in comparison with May’s arrivals, is normal in that June and July are “off-season” as far as the local textile market is concerned and importers generally do not buy for arrival during these months ex cepting for staple items. OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY 142-13th Street Tel. 3-37-20 Port Area Myers Building Manila ELEVATORS • DUMBWAITERS • ESCALATORS ENGINEERING AND PLANNING We are always ready to help architects, engineers and building planners with the exacting job of applying vertical trans portation equipment to modern traffic needs. To save time and effort, consult us during the earliest planning stages. You can get the help of Otis engineers by contacting your Otis office. This service is free and without obligation. An Incentive to BETTER SALES CUNANAN’S UP-TO-DATE WALL MAP OF THE PHILIPPINES 34 X 48 INCHES Has 3 useful inset maps: Physical Physical-Economic Maps of the Phils., and Air Routes of the Orient. PRICE ONLY P8.00 (Post. F.7«) QUIAPO, MANILA P. O. BOX 620

pages

238-239

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