Foreign Orders

HC Deb 13 May 1953 vol 515 cc1219-20

5. Mr. Callaghan

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty to what he attributes the decline in foreign orders for British ships; and how much work British yards now have on their order books, excluding yards specialising in tankers.

Mr. Digby

Orders for ships from foreign owners have declined, as have orders from British owners. The decline may be due both to the expansion of capacity abroad and also the late delivery dates that can be offered by British yards, owing to their full order books and to the shortage of steel plate in the last few years. It is difficult to distinguish between yards specialising in tankers and other yards, as most larger yards now build some tankers. Orders for ships other than tankers now stand at 2, 717, 000 tons of which 905, 000 tons are for foreign owners.

Mr. Callaghan

Though there has been a general decline in new shipbuilding orders, is it not the case that our proportion of export work is lower, according to the latest list, than for the last six years? Is there any particular reason why British shipbuilding yards are not building as great a proportion as they were for export?

Mr. Digby

All ships are built strictly in rotation and the order is that in which they are placed on the order books. The proportion of foreign ships being built will go up in the near future, as will be seen from the figures I have given.

Mr. Popplewell

Is the hon. Gentleman sure that we are not losing any orders because of the difficulty of obtaining sufficient steel plate, particularly on the Tyne and the Wear? We know that the ending of the steel control is to take place, but there is the difficulty of the voluntary control. Will the hon. Gentleman make representations to the Ministry of Supply to ensure that there is sufficient steel plate going to our shipbuilding yards to keep this very important industry at home?

Mr. Digby

The Admiralty have been in constant touch with the Ministry of Supply on this question of steel plate and everything possible is being done, but we must remember that the order books are still very long, representing something between three and four years' work, which must affect new orders.