Manila hemp

Title

Manila hemp

Creator

Guettinger, Fred

Language

English

Source

The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume XXVII (Issue No. 5) May 1951

Year

1951

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

162 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL May, 1951 started to go down about the middle of the period and lower prices are expected. Price control in the United States on desiccated co conut continues, and the Philippine Desiccated Coconut Manufacturers Association has requested the Philippine Government to make representation to the United States Government to place desiccated coconut on the uncontrolled list with copra and coconut oil. Shipping statistics for the month of March follows: Shippers Pounds Franklin Baker Co. of Phil.................................... 2,556,800 Blue Bar Coconut Co.*............................................... 1,053,720 Peter Paul Philippine Corporation............................ none Red-V Coconut Products, Ltd............................. 2,575,300 Sun-Ripe Coconut Products, Inc......................... 705,000 Standard Coconut Corp......................................... none Cooperative Coconut Products..................................... ” Tabacalera........................................................................... ” Coconut Products (Phil.) Inc................................ 185,275 7,076,095 ’Zamboanga factory production .................................... 415,600 lbs. Lusacan ” " 638.120 ” Total Blue Bar shipment.................................................. 1,053,720 ” Partly because of the uncertainty of future pricing possibilities under the United States ceiling-price regulations and partly because of large inventories built up in the United States by the heavy shipments made by Philippine producers during the second half of 1950, there was a slackening Of production activity. A number of mills closed down entirely during the month of April and the remaining ones operated at much reduced capacity. There are reports that a new price-control order is being drafted by government agencies in Washington, granting relief to the desiccated coconut industry, and with some improvement in the supply and demand situa tion, most mills are making plans to resume operations in May at least on a limited scale. Manila Hemp By Fred Guettinger Vice-President and General Manager Macleod and Company of Philippines THIS review covers the period from March 16 to April 15. Abaca prices have remained about unchanged during the period. A fair business was done to Europe but as usual the United States continued to absorb the bulk of the Philippine production. Business to Japan was negligible and is likely to continue so until current nego tiations for an increased or amended quota are concluded. Pressings for March were 94,319 bales—a decline of 6,667 bales from February’s record figure. March pres sings, however, were 31,459 bales higher than March, 1950. Davao balings were 43,974 bales—up 5,527 bales from February, and non-Davao 50,345 bales—down 12,194 bales from February. The seasonal decline for non-Davao has set in and it is unlikely that the non-Davao figures for the rest of the year will, in any one month, reach the average of the January/February/March production. The following are the comparative figures for balings for the first three months of 1947 through 1951: Balings—January-March Inclusive 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 Davao................................... 122,446 75,456 54,729 55,010 82,636 Albay, Camarines and Sorsogon.......................... 86,356 50,790 36,569 66,623 60,588 NOV// FOR THE FIRST TIME Silvertown NON SKID DESIGN Silvertown TREAD DEPTH TREAD WIDTH Silvertown COLD RUBBER Goodrich International Rubber Co. OFFICE & BODEGA 13th & ATLANTA, PORT AREA TEL. No. 3-37-21 RECAP PLANT 207 RIZAL AVE. EXT., GRACE PARK TEL. No. 2-72-23 May, 1951 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 163 Leyte and Samar............. 49,803 31,598 31,741 32,280 17,340 All other non-Davao........ 27,627 20,402 23,458 36,046 11,757 Total Bales ........................... 286,232 178,246 146,497 189,959 172,321 March exports once again greatly exceed balings, this time by 40,265 bales. Total exports for January./ March were 321,360 bales, or 35,128 more than the pres sings for the same period- The following are the compara tive figures for exports for the first three months of 1947 through 1951: Exports—January-March Inclusive Total Bales........................ 321,360 141,122 142,270 190,383 142,780 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 United States and Canada.................... 188,079 61,080 49,049 91,766 107,252 Continental Europe. 50,919 23,384 33,561 33,081 30,637 United Kingdom. . . 41,707 17,240 7,447 37,060 2,085 Japan........................... 33,990 31,688 47,428 24,404 — South Africa.............. 2,820 780 750 300 — China........................... 1,555 3,850 3,629 1,800 606 India............................. 2,290 1,775 326 — 1,800 Korea........................... — 700 — — — Australia and New Zealand.......................... — 625 — 42 — All other countries... — — ' 80 1,930 400 Sugar By S. Jamieson Secretary-Treasurer Philippine Sugar Association THIS review covers the period from April 2 to April 30, 1951, inclusive. New York Market. The market opened on April 2 with spot quoted at 5.80/ and small parcels of prompt Cubas on offer at 5.85/ in which buyers were interested at 5.80/. Refiners were thought to be well covered for their April requirements and in the early part of the month showed little interest in raw sugar for prompt arrival, and parcels in that position faced a steadily falling market. By April 12 spot had dropped to 5.65/, and the following day a parcel of prompt Porto Ricos was bought by an operator at this price. This marked the low point of the market. Immediately thereafter an improvement set in, with refiners and operators becoming particularly interested in arrivals from May onward, and prices recorded a steady advance. From the middle of the month on, quite large parcels of Philippine sugar were sold at progressively higher prices, the positions and range of prices being in general as fol lows: Afloats and April shipment, 5.85/ to 6/; June arrival, 5.90/ to 6.02/; May/June shipment, 5.98/ to 6.06/; July arrival, 6.10/. Substantial quantities of Porto Ricos and limited quantities of Cubas were also sold during the same period, but with the growing strength of the market these holders became more inclined to hold off, believing that still better prices were in the offing. The market closed very firm, with light offerings of prompt sugar at 6.10/ and a parcel of Portos for July shipment at 6.25/. Refiners were indicating 6/ for May arrival, while operators were offering 6.15/ and 6.20/ for July and August arrival, respectively. We give below the quotations on the New York Sugar Exchange as of April 30 for Contract No. 6: July.................................................................... 5.67^ September.............................................. 5.78 November........................................................ 5.79 The world market Contract No. 4 quotations closed as follows on April 30: September........................................................ March, 1952................................................... May................................................................... 6 00f* 6.03 6.03 5.27 5.28 ^Buy JSQtional Qty "Bank ^Travelers Checks If you’re wise you’ll make reservations for hotels, train berths, ships, planes to avoid a spoil ed trip. Why take chances with your travel money? Carry National City Bank Travelers Checks and protect yourself against theft or loss. Your money refunded if lost or stolen. NCB Travelers Checks faithfully guard your funds wherever you travel—at home or overseas, and save you needless worry. Because NCB Travelers Checks are backed by America’s greatest World Wide Bank, they are known and accepted everywhere. In denom inations of $10, $20, $50 and $100—good until used. THE NATIONAL CITY BANK OF NEW YORK Jir^t in World-Wide (Banking. Branches in the Philippines MANILA Main Branch: Juan Luna St. Port Area Branch: 13th Street PAMPANGA: Clark Field CEBU: Cebu City

pages

162-163

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