Copra and its products

Title

Creator

Day, Kenneth B.

Language

English

Source

The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume XVII (Issue No.4) April 1937

Year

1937

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

April, 1937 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 41 COPRA AND ITS PRODUCTS By KENNETH B. DAY and LEO SCHNURMACHER Kenneth B. Day The March markets were notable in that for the first time in some months market fluctua tions were not very wide. As far as copra was concerned, the market was a sellers’ marked because copra production was light as it always is in March. From the standpoint of the oil buyer, however, it was a buyers’ marked, because* with large offerings of competing oils the* buyer could take his choice* and buy what and when he liked. Copra—Copra arrivals were a little; bett<;r than those of February, both in Manila anel Cebu. Manila arrivals were doubtless stimu lated by some 97,000 sacks of copra brought to Manila from Cebu and other provincial sliip- Leo Schnurmacher and Coast quotations. At the end of the month while there was an easier tendency in the copra market, yet this tendency was caused by lack of demand for co conut oil at commensurate prices from the United States, and not from any abundance of copra locally. Stocks all over the Islands were fairly low for this time of year, and with prac tically no copra having moved to the Pacific Coast for several months. Pacific Coast stocks must also have been inadequate. Statistics for the month follow: to export had space Manila and Cebu, however, fell short of March, 1936, arrivals, Manila being off 14% and Cebu ping points which would normally have gone* been available. Both showed a slightly firmer tendency, but cverynearly 25%. Thus, our prediction that arrivals would be comparatively light for the first part of 1937 is certainly coming true. The February market closed stagnant with copra buyers offering P19.50 resecada Manila and sellers with small stocks only in hand again looking for higher prices later in the month and not interested in buyers’ ideas sellers' ideas being approximately P21.00 for large lots. The scarcity of copra on the Pacific Coast led to a brisk export demand during the first half month, particularly for April/May shipment and this demand pushed prices up locally to a point where by the middle of the month buyers were paying as high as P21.00, which just about matched export prices. Export prices were so high, however, that copra from Java and Celebes again underbid Philippine copra in the Pacific Coast markets with the result that Philippine copra began to drop and for the full balance of the month there was a sluggish down ward movement to a point where by the end of the month buyers were bidding Pl8.50 and paying P19.00 with sellers disposing of small lots at these figures but not interested in making large sales. The very last day of the month thing pointed to a further decline; in April in spite of the fact that particularly in Manila the prospects for good arrivals in April was dis tinctly poor. As mentioned above, the Pacific Coast market was strong for the first half month, particularly for prompt arrivals, with sales made as high as 5.40 cents. The joker in this market was the fact that space was all but unobtainable, and under these conditions buyers’ quotations were largely nominal, although they served the pur pose of reinforcing copra sellers’ ideas that the market was stronger than it really turned out to be. By the end of the month, Pacific Coast buyers were much less interested and the price sagged to a nominal quotation of 5 cents with a little business done here and there at prices ranging up to 5.10 and 5.15 cents. For the second month in succession, there were no ex ports of copra to the Pacific Coast in March and the only copra shipped out of the Islands in March was a lot of 2400 tons routed out for New Orleans by Procter & Gamble from Cebu. The European market was subject to minor fluctuations, ranging from a low of £19/7/6 for Cebu sundried to a high of £20/10/-. This market was of but academic interest to Philip pine sellers, for it was some P3.00 under local Arrivals—] Sacks Manila........................ 253,744 (includes 39,195 sacks shipped from Cebu) Cebu........................... 250,161 Shipments— Tons Gulf Ports................. 2,437 Beginning End of of Month Month Stocks on hand— Tons Tons Manila........................ 23,593 19,917 Cebu........................... 23.109 27,131 Coconut Oil—It should be definitely un derstood that coconut oil sells in the United States these days at two prices. The first is the base price, which is for forward shipments 90 days or more away, and the second for spot deliveries. These spot deliveries command anywhere from 1/8 cent above the market to sometimes as much as 1/2 cent, depending on the position, and mostly are spot sales for small quantities of stray tank cars. The month opened with buyers of oil in New York at 8 cents a pound c.i.f-, but with a rather weak tendency which brought buyers’ ideas down early in the month to 7-3/4 cents. Owing to the shortage of copra, however, the oil situa tion improved and by the middle of the month it was possible to sell oil anywhere from 8 cents for far forward to 8-1/4 cents for nearby, both c.i.f. New York. During the first half of the month Pacific Coast buyers were not so much interested, but about the middle of the month they in turn came into the market and fixed their price at around 7-3/4 cents f.o.b., for spread shipments over the balance of the year with nearby oil selling at up to 1 /4 cent premium. It (Please turn to page 44) IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 44 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL April, 1937 Copra............. (Continued from' page. JI) is fortunate that this demand came into the market because New York prices slipped during the second half of the month owing to large offerings of Palm Kernel Oil for future ship ments, said offerings amounting to as much as perhaps 50,000 tons. Large soapers covered themselves liberally with Palm Kernel at prices lower than they would have had to pay for coco nut oil, which spells more trouble for Philip pine coconut oil in the second half year with the market fairly well covered in advance. It is reported that Palm Oil has already been, sold into 1938. Statistics for the month follow: Shipments— Met . Tons Pacific Coast.................................... 1,958 Atlantic Coast................................ 7,493 Gulf Ports....................................... 508 China and Japan........................... 15 Tot al......................................... 9,974 Beginning of End of Month Month Stocks on hand in Manila and Cebu....... Met. Tons Met. Tons 9,139 11,506 Copra Cake and Meal—Copra cake took a good spurt in March. This was rather un anticipated, for usually March-April-May are the bad months for selling copra cake. This year, however, in spite of the fact that the freight rate on copra cake will advance 3 shillings on May 1st, prices have been on the upgrade and the f.o.b. equivalent advanced in March from P40.00 f.o.b. to very nearly P50.00 for ship ments up to and including August. Hamburg prices advanced to $34.00 c.i.f. Copra meal to the United States was also in fair demand, but space was very short and buyers could not get any adequate space cover prior to the second half of May. Meal sold up to $29.50 per short ton c.i.f. for spread shipments D R Y s E A L S Superior Qualify Dependable Service RING UP 2-18-01 the next time you need a Rubber Stamp or Dry Seal and our Salesman will call Tifc/^rrr r tt 1U/K PRINTING COMPANY >---S VvT’-f JL Sales Office: 2nd Floor IOI Escolfa R u B B E R s T A M P S to July. It is likely that May shipments of copra meal to the West Coast will be very heavy, which may depress prices at that time. Statistics for the month follow: Shipments— Met. Tons Pacific Coast................. 2,943 Atlantic Coast.............................. 686 Europe........................................... 3,301 'lot al......................................... 7,663 Beginning of End of Month Month Stock on hand in Met. Tons Met. Tons Manila and Cebu....... 7,814 7,960 Desiccated Coconut—Shipments of desic cated for March were high, totalling 3,938 metric tons. Prices in New York ruled unchanged at 8-3/4 cents, but it is expected that these prices will be advanced the first of April to 10 cents April-June shipments. Ceylon desiccated is being offered in New York markets at the equi valent of around 10 cents or a little more after paying duty, thus reflecting the weak position of Ceylon copra in the world market. Local mills are finding less difficulty in obtaining nuts but. are still short and local production is handi capped accordingly. With prices in the United States tending to increase, and with the copra prices in the Philippines likely to decrease in a month or two, the position of desiccated copra looks better. Vegetable Lard—While it is impossible to obtain statistics regarding the production and distribution of Vegetable Lard in the Philip pines, yet there is no doubt that this business has been on the upgrade for the past two years. During the period of high copra prices, however, the cost of this lard has increased to such an extent that retail prices have been out of the reach of the small consumer, and sales volume has declined radically since the first of the year. It is evident that Vegetable Lard, while a sub stantial business when prices are reasonable, is very much subject to price fluctuation and con sequent increase and decrease in demand. General—Predictions for the future of copra and oil prices are dangerous. We still hold to our belief that supplies will be short for Manila until the middle of the year, but will be consid erably better in Cebu. For the second half year we believe supplies will be adequate in both places, although Manila may be shorter than last year. The very weak tendency of the fats and oils in Europe is having its effect on local prices and we anticipate weak markets from now on to the middle of the year with oc casional little flurries of no particular impor tance. For the second half year, we anticipate low prices all around. Philippine copra producers and oil mills are watching with interest negotiations in Washing ton between the Commonwealth Government and the Government of the United States look ing toward the stabilization of trade relations between the two countries over the next ten years. Coconuts should play an important part in these discussions and the four million people in the Islands interested directly in the coconut industry have the right to have their problems seriously considered and solved in a manner which will allow them to continue to earn a livelihood. THE RICE INDUSTRY By PERCY A. HII.L of Munoz, Nueva Ecija Director, Rice Producer's Association Prices for both rice and palay have stif fened as predicted in last report. The offerings for luxury grades from P5.30 to 1*5.75 per sack of 56.5 kilos, with palay of that grade from P2.40 to P2.60 per cavan of 44 kilos. Macans bring from 1*5.20 to P5.60 with palay of that grade from 1*2.35 to P2.40. It may be that the increase is premature as the crop is pretty well disposed of by sales and deposits. There have been reports of the NARIC re ducing price offerings of palay mainly with the idea of disposing of such Saigon stocks as remain unsold. This taken with the buying of palay in distant regions of low production and high transportation charges, all go t o show that the Corporation faces the same identical problems as those faced by all business concerns engaged in the industry. One of the main problems to be solved by the NARIC is in the nature of the quantity x. This is what recovery can be expected for tne purchased cereal. This knowledge varies with the region of production, the variety of rice and the growing season and harvest—all in escapable factors—and which this year are entirely favorable. Upon the accuracy of the knowledge depends profit, or loss. Five thousand cavans of, say—Inapostol—produced in Tarlac will not yield the same recovery as an equal IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL

pages

41, 44

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