§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if she will publish a table showing price movements of the following foodstuffs in Great Britain in 1973, and if she will compare these price movements with those of the same foodstuffs in (a) the EEC as a whole, and (b) the rest of the world for the same period: wheat, beef, pork, butter, sugar, milk, eggs, and animal foodstuffs.
§ Mr. MaclennanInformation which is readily available is provided in the following table. For some commodities representative "world" prices and average prices for the EEC as a whole are not available. In these cases price quotations on important markets have been included.
15W
16W17W
COMMODITY PRICE MOVEMENTS IN 1973 IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, EEC AND THE REST OF THE WORLD* Per cent. Commodity Description Unit January 1973 December 1973 Price Movement Wheat UK: sale price ex farm £ per long ton 42.01 64.55 +54 France: delivered Rouen Francs per metric ton 586.30 635.10 +8½ Canada: Western Red Spring No. 2 Cents per bushel 265.75 553.88 +108 Beef UK: Average price for all cattle on representative markets £ per live cwt 17.95 17.25 −4 (February) EEC: Average price for all cattle on representative markets Units of account per 100 kg 94.96 86.62 −9 (February) Brisbane: light steers § Australian per 100 lb deadweight 37.50 43.50 +16 (February) Pork UK: fat pigs £ per score deadweight 3.47 4.52 +30 EEC: reference price for grade 2, standard quality Units of account per 100 kg deadweight 98.90 115.67 +17 (end January) Butter UK: New Zealand finest salted at London Provision Exchange £ per long ton 390 415 +6½ Netherlands: home produced, ex factory, excluding VAT Guilders per kg 6.70 6.06 −9½ Sugar UK: ex refinery, bagged and delivered £ per long ton 82.70 101.90 +23 EEC: intervention price, white sugar, standard quality, unwrapped, ex factory. Units of account per metric ton 233.40 235.70 +1 London daily price, 96° raw, cif UK, in bulk £ per long ton 98.40 138.25 +40½ Milk UK: Pool price p per gallon 20.2† 23.4‡ +16 Netherlands: ex farm, 3.7 per cent. fat content Guilders per 100 kg 39.71 41.02 +3 (October) Eggs UK: large and standard, average selling price, packers to wholesalers. £ per 120 eggs 1.65 3.93 +138 Netherlands: grade 4,55–60 gr, including VAT (4)§ Guilders per 100 eggs 11.35 21.10 +95 Soyabeans UK: unit value cif of imports (all sources) £ per long ton 67.85 75.0 +10½ US: cif Rotterdam §US per metric ton 214 246 +15 Barley UK: sale price ex farm £ per long ton 38.46 55.37 +44 France: feed barley Francs per metric ton 538.50 558.95 +3½ Canada: No. 1 feed Canadian cents per bushel 140 238 +70 * There are no meaningful "world" prices for pork, butter, milk and eggs. † Average "pool" price for 1972–73. ‡Average "pool" price for 1973–74 (latest estimate). § Based on the free at frontier price of eggs exported to Western Germany. Sources: Commonwealth Secretariat; MAFF Agricultural Market Reports; Meat and Livestock Commission; London Provision Exchange; Eggs Authority: Maandstatistick Van de Landbouw (Netherlands); La Depeche (France); EEC Commission; Public Ledger.