Copra plantations in New Guinea: Difference between revisions

Copra plantations in New Guinea have been cultivated since the late 19th century, originally by German colonialists. They were continued by Australian interests following World War II.

Early colonialists

In 1884, German settlers arrived in eastern New Guinea (now part of Papua New Guinea), who planted Coconut palms (Cocos nucifera) for the production of copra, the dried flesh of the coconut. They established the colony of German New Guinea in the north eastern quarter of the island and numerous coconut plantations around coastal areas. They were afraid of venturing too far inland.^[1] To counter the growing German presence in the region, the Australian state of Queensland established the Territory of Papua as a de facto possession covering approximately the south east third of the island.^[1] Both the Queensland and German plantations thrived, providing opulent living conditions for the expatriates. Grand mansions were built on the plantations, complete with luxury furnishings.^[1] Much of the labour was performed by New Guinea natives.^[2] The towns of Port Moresby and Rabaul were founded as a result of the economic activity surrounding the plantations.^[1]

In 1914, Australia sent a small military force to capture the towns of Kokopo and Rabaul. Two Germans were killed in the process, while the remaining German plantation owners were initially sent back to work on their plantations.^[1] The 1919 Treaty of Versailles saw Germany lose all its overseas colonies, including German New Guinea.^[2] It became the Territory of New Guinea, a League of Nations Mandate Territory under Australian administration. German planters were displaced in the 1920s.^[2]

Recent history

By the 1980s, copra production in New Guinea was dominated by two Australian trading companies: Burns Philp and W. R. Carpenter and Company Ltd.^[2]

In 1985 the PNG government established the Copra Marketing Board,^[3] to take over copra production in the PNG. The Copra Marketing Board virtually decimated copra production with copra exports from PNG falling to negligible levels until 2004. According to the PNG Central Bank, the PNG’s copra exports in 2003 plunged to 3,600 tons in 2003, levels at which copra exports could be said to be close to extinction. Exports had risen to more than 9,100 tons in 2004.

In 1993 Kokonas Industri Koporasen (KIK) built a copra mill in Madang Province and effectively gained monopoly control over the marketing of PNG copra. In 2003 the government ended KIK’s monopoly powers over marketing. A year later KIK suffered losses that forced the group to call in liquidator, PNG Coconut Commodities, Rex Paki, who in April 2004, sold the Manang mill to Australian-owned Coconut Oil Production Madang Ltd (COPM, owned by Donald Brownlie Fleming) for K7.8 million (US$2.4 million).^[4] COPM immediately raised the price of first grade copra by K100 to K725 (US$223) a ton, giving long-suffering copra growers their best news in many years. This was an excellent outcome for everybody involved in the copra industry in PNG, in particular for the local growers and local people who relied upon income from copra.

The country’s only other coconut mill is owned by the Carpenter Group located in Rabaul.

References