§ 28. Mr. Edward Daviesasked the President of the Board of Trade what amount of tobacco is being imported at the present time from dollar and sterling areas, respectively; and how these figures compare with those of a year ago.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftUnited Kingdom manufacturers expect to buy about 50 million lb. of tobacco for immediate import from this year's North American crops and have already arranged for another 70 million lb. to be held for them in the United States. In 1951, they bought some 265 million lb of dollar tobacco, some of which went into stocks which are now being used to maintain production. The trade bought 105 million lb. of Sterling Area tobacco from the230W 1951 crops and I expect they will buy 115 million lb. from the 1952 crops. Had the Southern Rhodesian crops been up to expectations, they would have bought more.