§ 44. Mr. Hardyasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the quantity of steel scrap exported in the first quarter of 1971 and the proportion of these exports which went to the Common Market countries.
§ Mr. Ridley60,500 tons of ferrous scrap; and 47 per cent. respectively.
§ Mr. HardyThat answer will be of great interest, but in the steel-making areas there is even greater interest in future scrap trading arrangements? Will the Minister not approve of any change in the arrangements for governing scrap trading, particularly where such a change would be disadvantageous to the British steel industry? Will he also ensure that no change in the arrangements is made which confers on the steel industries of the Common Market countries an advantage against our own?
§ Mr. RidleyWe have been importing almost twice as much as we have exported in the period in question. The present arrangements are that there is an open general licence for nearly all grades of scrap and we believe that that is the right state and we have no intion of changing that state of control at present.