§ Mr. Robert Atkinsasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will provide details of the present financial position of the aviation security fund.
§ Mr. SproatI have placed in the Library of each House today a background paper which explains the present state
United Kingdom Imports of Slabs*of Steel (Other than High Carbon or Alloy Steel), by Country of Origin '000 Tonnes †1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 Belgium-Luxembourg 1.0 0.7 3.3 1.4 — 1.0 0.1 Netherlands 0.3 41.3 246.4 24.7 1.5 — 0.2 Germany, Federal Republic 9.3 12.6 18.5 6.2 11.1 15.1 23.6 France 0.4 1.3 19.2 2.4 0.3 — — Sweden — 0.1 19.3 21.2 17.3 19.7 14.0 Norway 0.1 4.1 — — 3.0 3.0 3.1 Denmark — — — — — 0.5 — Canada — — — — — — 20.0 United States of America 2.3 — — — 2.6 2.0 — Brazil — — — — — 56.6 — Irish Republic — 0.5 — — — — — Japan — 5.0 — — — 1.0 — Italy — 0.1 — — — — — Spain 4.6 — — — — — — Poland — — — 14.9 17.9 — — Romania — — — 0.3 — — — Total 18.0 65.7 306.7 71.1 53.7 98.9 61.2 Total as percentage of United Kingdom consumption‡ ¼ 1 4 1 ¾ 1¼ 1½ Notes
1. The figures relate essentially to non-alloy slab. Alloy slab is not separately identified.
2. Prior to 1974, slab steel is not separately identified. Figures for the year 1981 are not yet available.
*Slabs and sheet bars—include tin plate bars.
† Figures for 1974 are on the basis of country from which the import was last consigned rather than counry of origin. The differences are unlikely to be large.
‡ There is no precise information on United Kingdom consumption of slab steel. The figures given provide a rough indication of the percentage of United Kingdom imports of non-alloy slab in the estimated consumption of such slab.