BREAK IN RUBBER PRICES

Taranaki Daily News, 23 March 1932, Page 5

BREAK IN RUBBER PRICES

THE LOWEST YET RECORDED SLIGHT RECOVERY LATER \ FAILURE OF REGULATION SHARES DROP. ON EXCHANGE British Official Wireless. Rec. 5.3 p.m. Rugby, March 21. A sharp break in the price of rubber followed the announcement that the proposals for the regulation of production or the export of rubber had been rejected. The spot price was to-day quoted at 1 7-'Sd, the lowest on record, but it later recovered to 1 Ib-lOd. Rubber shares on the Stock Exchange were marked down but prices were nominal. Questioned in Parliament regarding .the negotiations, the Colonial Secretary, Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister, said they revealed that the practical difficulties were such as to preclude the adoption with a reasonable prospect of success of any - comprehensive and effective scheme. He was satisfied this conclusion was inevitable in all circumstances, and it had been reluctantly accepted by both the British and Dutch Governments.

The negotiations referred to, which began last December, were preceded by a series of discussions dating back to July, 1930. One of the chief considerations which led the Colonial Secretary to enter into the negotiations was that all the best informed opinion, whether restrictionist -or anti-restrictionist, recognised the desirability of getting certainty on the question. All engaged in the negotiations at once agreed that a scheme which failed would be more harmful than no scheme at all, and that a scheme to be successful must restrict production all round —native as well as plantation —and that if the scheme were adopted it must restrict production to such an extent that within a reasonable time the stocks would be restored to normal proportions, and equilibrium between supply and demand established. The shocks of rubber in the world at present are huge, being estimated at about 600,000 tons. It was agreed that if the stocks could be got down to 300,000 tons, or six months’ supply, it might bfe regarded as reasonable. The negotiations showed that, although difficulties regarding plantation rubber might be overcome and it might be possible, although difficult, to deal with native production by a quota in Malaya and Ceylon, insuperable difficulties arose in regard to the Dutch East Indies, it being found impossible to ascertain even the area of native production in Sumatra and Java.