§ Mr. Penhaligonasked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the value of minerals, including china clay, exported from the United Kingdom for each of the last 10 years; and what percentage of these, by value, came from Cornwall.
§ Mr. MeacherIn accordance with the established practice to refer hon. Members to published information where this is readily accessible, I would advise the hon. Member that details of United Kingdom exports of minerals of various kinds may be found in the published statistics of overseas trade—copies of which are in the House of Commons Library—under divisions 27, 28, 32, 33, 34, 52 and 68 of the Standard International Trade Classification (Revised).
Although the Overseas Trade Statistics do not record the locality from which exports originate, it is believed that the bulk of United Kingdom production of china clay comes from Cornwall. Exports of china clay in the period 1968–75 and of kaolin and kaolin clay in 1976 and 1977 are given in the trade statistics under the following code numbers:
- 1968 and 1969—E.276 23;
- 1970–75—25071476;
- 1976 and 1977—25071158 and 25071941.