§ 48. Mr. J. H. Osbornasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the number of pieces, value, and tonnage of alloy steel and ordinary steel forgings, including subsequent heat treatment and machining manufacturered 49W by the public and private sector of the steel and engineering industry, respectively, above 75 tons in weight in each of the past 10 years; what percentage was exported; and how this has compared with corresponding imports.
§ Mr. RidleyNo information is available in the form requested, distinguishing number of pieces and size classes, or showing imports and exports of forgings machined so as to constitute parts of machinery. The following table gives the tonnage totals that are available for the years 1960 and 1970, and I shall be glad to provide intervening figures if my hon. Friend finds that they will meet his purpose.
Briefly, the demand for forgings is declining; the private sector provides over 80 per cent. of supplies from the steel industry; each sector exports about 16 per cent; imports of forgings in the rough state are negligible.
DELIVERIES OF STEEL FORGINGS (OTHER THAN DROP FORGINGS) 1960 1970 Total deliveries by steel industry(thousand tons) B.S.C. — 27.8 Other — 130.6 Total 198.7 158.4 Of which export deliveries (per cent.) B.S.C. — 17.3 Other — 16.0 Total 10.8 16.2 Imports as a percentage of home deliveries 0.62 0.39 N.B.—Imports are estimated, from a recorded total of iron and steel forgings including drop forgings. Neither imports nor exports include forged pieces that have been converted by machining to parts of machinery or vehicles.