§ Mr. Woofasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will give the list of the most up-to-date world commodity market prices in sterling; and how this compares with the figures for the last five years.
§ Mr. MeacherAverage world commodity prices are not available, but producers' or United Kingdom market prices for specific grades of selected commodities are given in the accompanying table:
63W64W
Unit of price and quantity Annual Averages Price on 17th May 1976 unless noted otherwise Commodity Description 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 Copper … Wirebars, London Metal Exchange settlement price. £ per tonne 445 428 728 878 557 840 Lead … London Metal Exchange settlement price. £ per tonne 104 121 175 253 186 270 Zinc … European producers' price £ per tonne 140 156 216 333 366 440 Tin … London Metal Exchange settlement price. £ per tonne 1,438 1,507 1,969 3,500 3,092 4,130 Aluminium … Ingots, Canadian producers' price £ per tonne 257 235 245 327 392 456 Nickel … Refined, Canadian producers' price £ per tonne 1,234 1,253 1,395 1,651 2,045 2,553 Raw wool … Merino 64's p per kilo 70.7 119.5 282.1 211.8 174.1 210.0* Raw cotton … 1 1/16" p per kilo 30.7 31.9 55.8 61.6 53.1 85.2 Raw jute … White 'C' grade £ per ton 145 150 147 182 210 212 Natural rubber No. 1 R.S.S. p per kilo 14.4 14.8 30.3 34.3 31.5 48.8 Beef … Eire hindquarters p per lb. 21.9 25.8 32.7 35.0 41.0 51.0† Lamb … New Zealand (including duty) p per lb. 13.7 18.0 25.6 27.1 29.6 37 .7† Bacon … Danish A1 p per lb. 15.9 18.7 28.1 31.3 37.4 42.9‡ Wheat … U.S. Dark Northern Spring £ per ton N.A. N.A. 67.1 99.1 92.7 103.0 U.S. No. 2 Hard Winter £ per ton N.A. 32.8 59.9 90.6 88.0 N.A. Maize … No. 3 American Yellow £ per ton 28.6 27.4 46.5 67.3 60.2 72.5§ Coffee … Uganda Robusta Type 2 3 months futures. £ per tonne 358 371 433 525 584 1,435§ Cocoa … Accra/Lagos 3 months futures £ per tonne 222 260 503 748 612 1,046§ Tea … Average price at London tea sales £ per tonne 433 420 432 597 623 751* Palm oil … Malaysian nearest futures £ per tonne 108 87 156 288 193 190§ Soya beans … U.S. No. 2 nearest futures £ per tonne 54 59 95 121 100 118║ N.A.=Not available. * Week ending 14th May. † 10th May. ‡ 13th May. § 14th May. ║ 15th May.