§ 2.35 p.m.
§ THE EARL OF DUNDEEMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they can state the reason for the recent sharp decline in the output of the chipwood industry in Scotland, which is causing deplorable wastage of valuable forestry thinnings; and whether the Government's policy in the development areas will have regard to the need for establishing this industry more securely in the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands.]
§ THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR SCOTLAND (LORD HUGHES)My Lords, competition from imported chip-board has recently become keener, following the removal of the temporary surcharge on imports and of the last duties on imports from EFTA sources. This does not mean that forest thinnings will be wasted in the aggregate on a serious scale. The chipboard industry is not the only outlet for thinnings. Expanding markets will be provided by the pulp mills at Fort William and Workington. The encouragement of suitable industry in the development areas is already Government policy. Assistance under the Local Employment Acts and by investment grants is provided for this purpose.
My Lords, I understand that to-day is the noble Earl's birthday. He may well think that the only thing I am offering him in that Answer is good wishes.
§ THE EARL OF DUNDEEMy Lords, I am very glad to accept what the noble Lord offers me, which is very valuable to me. Regarding the Question, is the noble 978 Lord aware that allegations have been made in the Press and elsewhere that dumping is taking place, and would the Board of Trade consult with the industry to see whether there is any ground for this allegation against which action might be taken? May I also ask the noble Lord whether he is aware that while, of course, we hope that the industry will expand, there is at present a very large number of thinnings which are being held up and are wasting; and when the foresters now engaged on thinning have been paid off, we may not be able, even if things do improve, to get them back again?
§ LORD HUGHESMy Lords, if I may lake the second point first, the indications are that the demand, at Fort William for instance, is growing more rapidly than had at first been expected, so I think that prospects from the pulpwood mills are reasonably satisfactory. On the first question about possible dumping, I should say that imports from Eastern Europe tend to be low-priced, but they provide only a small portion of particle board imports which come from many sources mostly at prices cheaper than the British product. Finland and the EFTA countries, and the Irish Republic, are all important suppliers in this connection. I should say that if the industry, or anyone, has any grounds for suggesting that dumping is taking place from any Western European country in particular I shall be very glad to have details because I am quite certain that the Board of Trade would be glad to take this into consideration.
§ BARONESS ELLIOT OF HARWOODMy Lords, the noble Lord has referred to the pulp mill at Fort William, and we know that that is of enormous importance. Does he realise that a great deal of the thinnings of the Forestry Commission in the Lowlands, which is an enormous quantity, are now unable to attract a market at places like the Bowater factory outside Newcastle and the factory near Lockerbie? Would the noble Lord look at what is happening to the Forestry Commission thinnings in the Lowlands where a quite serious situation is developing?
§ LORD HUGHESMy Lords, I understand that the factory at Workington is also expanding its demand for these thinnings. I should say, in relation to the possible use of thinnings, that the Forestry 979 Commission are to meet the growers and the home timber trade in Scotland shortly to discuss this problem. I assure the noble Baroness that I will keep in touch with these developments.
THE DUKE OF ATHOLLMy Lords, is it not a fact that much of the thinnings that were intended for the chipboard industry are not for technical reasons suitable for the pulp mill, and that the pulp mill is rejecting them? If that is so, I cannot see how the noble Lord thinks that that is a complete answer. Further, is it not true that S.W.O.A. alone have over 150,000 cubic feet of chipboard thinnings waiting to go to the market?
§ LORD HUGHESMy Lords, I am aware of the fact that the pulp mills seek to use timber of a slightly higher diameter than would normally be used by the chipboard factories. What I was pointing out was that the picture is not entirely black, and it is not the case that there is no alternative market for any of them. The noble Duke may recollect that what I said was that forest thinnings will not be wasted in the aggregate on a serious scale. I did net say that in the existing circumstances there would be a market found for all that had been used by the chipboard factories. But I think that as a result of the discussions which are taking place between the trade and the Forestry Commission something may well emerge.
§ THE EARL OF GLASGOWMy Lords, may I ask the noble Lord a very unfair question? In my father's day it was very popular to plant larch. It is now almost impossible to persuade the chipboard factories to take larch thinnings; they want nothing but spruce. I believe there is a compulsion on the chipboard factories to take a certain amount of thinnings other than spruce. Can the noble Lord give the House any information on that point?
§ LORD HUGHESMy Lords, I do not know whether that is a completely unfair question, but I hope that the noble Lord will not think he is getting a completely unfair answer when I say that he might well discuss that point with the noble Earl who asked the original Question, and who is a strong advocate of the growing of larch.