§ Mr. KINGasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state the selling retail price of household coal at the end of last month in London, Paris, Rome, Petrograd, Berlin, and Vienna, respectively?
§ Mr. G. ROBERTSRetail prices for coal in London are fixed under a voluntary arrangement between the London merchants and the Board of Trade. At the end of May the price of best Derby Brights, the most popular house coal, was 33s. a ton, and the prices of other classes of coal varied in proportion. I have no recent official information as to the price of coal in the Allied capitals, but inquiry is being made. Figures for the retail price of coal in Berlin and Vienna at the end of May are not yet available. In February the retail price in Berlin was 40.72 marks a ton for inland household and 30.54 marks for briquettes. On 1st May the Rhenish Westphalian Syndicate raised prices by 2 marks a ton for coal and 3 marks for briquettes. A further increase in retail prices may be expected on the 1st August, as a 20 per cent,ad valorcm coal tax comes into operation on that date. In Vienna the price of coal in sacks at the shoot was in February 62.2 kroner per ton and 68.2 kroner delivered at the consumer's door. On 14th May the Upper Silesian mines increased their price by 2 to 3 kroner per ton.