§ Mr. A. M. SAMUELasked the Secretary for Mines to what extent Russian coal has become an effective competitor in Mediterranean destinations against exports of Welsh and North country coal; and has he any information as to Russian prices and qualities.
§ Mr. TURNER, pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 21st May, 1930, col. 402, Vol. 239] supplied the following statement:
The increase in the export of Russian coal to Mediterranean markets, referred to in the reply to this question on 21st May, was practically confined to Greece, Turkey and Italy. The total export of coal from Russia to Mediterranean markets has increased from about 250,000 tons in the 12 months ended September, 1927, to about 650,000 tons in the 12 months ended September, 1929. 1495W But British exports to the same markets during that period increased from 15,750,000 tons for the year 1927 to over 16,000,000 tons in 1929. Official information is not available which would enable a comparison to be made of the qualities and prices of British and Russian coals in these markets. Taking the average f.o.b. values as given in the official trade accounts for last year the Russian prices were lower than British in the case of Greece and Turkey but higher in the case of Italy. As, however, the f.o.b. values depend to a large extent on the kinds of coal involved, no general conclusions can be drawn from these figures.