§ 7.50 p.m.
§ [The question was as follows:
§ To ask His Majesty's Government the amount of coal exported from the British zone of Germany within the last twelve months, and on what accounts it has been exported, and the extent to which it has been balanced by imports for German consumption.]
§ LORD WALKDENMy Lords, the coal exports in the twelve months ended September 30, 1946, amounted to some. 12,660,000 tons of which 2,010,000 tons were sent to Austria and 10,650,000 tons to the countries supplied through the European Coal Organization. The transactions were on a straightforward sale basis except in the case of Switzerland, which has supplied electric power in return. Several of the countries receiving coal are supplying essential imports to the British zone, but their import and export contracts are not linked.