HC Deb 20 November 1928 vol 222 cc1522-3
6. Sir H. BRITTAIN

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, with a view to a better understanding of the economic condition of the iron and steel industries, he will cause a memorandum to be compiled and circulated giving authoritative statistics as to production, imports and exports, prices, costs, and employment in those industries?

Mr. H. WILLIAMS

A very thorough memorandum on the iron and steel industry, including particulars of production, imports and exports, and numbers employed over a period of years, with some discussion of prices and costs, is included in the "Survey of Metal Industries" published this year by the Committee on Industry and Trade. Moreover, the more important figures relating to the industry are regularly published in the Annual Reports and Monthly Bulletins of the National Federation of Iron and Steel Manufacturers. In these circumstances, I do not think that a further memorandum is necessary at the present time.

Sir H. BRITTAIN

Is it not possible to bring these figures up to date?

Mr. WILLIAMS

These figures are published monthly by the National Federation of Iron and Steel Manufacturers, and the figures are never more than a few days out of date. The figures in the document published by the Committee on Industrial Trade are also comparatively recent.

Mr. AUSTIN HOPKINSON

Is it not a fact that those figures show rapidly decreasing imports of iron and steel into this country and an increasing production of iron and steel in this country?

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