51. Mr. Vyvyan Adamsasked the Minister of Supply, whether he is aware that it is estimated by users of raw aluminium that the British Aluminium Company could make a reasonable profit by selling raw aluminium to the aluminium control at a figure between £65 and £70 a ton; and for what reason he is paying £94 a ton to the British Aluminium Company?
§ Mr. BurginI am not aware of the estimate to which my hon. Friend refers or on what it is based. The price being paid for aluminium produced in this country is substantially less than the world price of aluminium or the price which is being paid in other countries. I am satisfied that it is a reasonable one in the circumstances in which the contract was made. When the contract comes up for renewal the price will, of course, be reconsidered.
Mr. AdamsIs the Minister aware that the balance-sheets of this company show that for the last three years their profits have risen from £600,000 to £700,000, and finally to £900,000, and why should the price of this vital commodity be stabilised by former officials of this company at a figure which represents profiteering?
§ Mr. BurginThe hon. Member is in error if he suggests that the price of the commodity is fixed by the controller. The price policy of the controller is fixed by the Minister, as head of the Department under whom the controller is working.
Mr. AdamsDoes not my right hon. Friend act largely on the advice of the aluminium controller, who formerly belonged to the board of the British Aluminium Company?
§ Mr. BurginNot on questions of price.
§ Mr. KirkwoodIs the Minister satisfied that there is no profiteering in this aluminium business?
§ Captain RamsayWill my right hon. Friend also say whether this has any relationship or similarity to the price of wool, which was bought at 20d. and three months later issued at 30d.?
§ Mr. BurginThere seems to be a good deal of misunderstanding, and I think we had better keep to aluminium. What I have said about aluminium is that the price at which I am acquiring it is below the world price, and I should have thought that that was a very good assurance.
Mr. V. AdamsDid not the American Aluminium Union last year press for a reduction in price, and was not that resisted by the British Aluminium Company?
§ Mr. BurginThese are not matters for which I have any responsibility.
§ Mr. KirkwoodMay I have an answer to my question?
§ Mr. BurginI am satisfied that I am buying raw material at the cheapest price at which we can reasonably obtain it. The contracts for purchasing material, like every other contract, are subject to investigation by accountants and experts, and if there were any reason to think that undue profits were being made, it would, be open to the finance section of the Ministry to discover it and to report accordingly.