§ Mr. Moateasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will publish figures showing the changes in volume of steel production in each European Economic Community 402W country comparing current levels with those of 1979, and indicating figures for total capacity and production as a percentage of capacity.
§ Mr. Butcher:The figures requested are given in the attached table.
The figures requested are given below for 1979 and 1981—the latest year for which they are available.
capacity 1979 production utilisation millions of tonnes of crude steel per cent. United Kingdom 28.9 21.5 74 West Germany 68.8 46.0 67 Italy 37.0 24.0 65 France 32.0 234 73 Belgium 19.7 13.4 68 Luxembourg 7.3 5.0 68 Netherlands 8.4 5.8 69 Denmark 1.2 0.8 67 Greece n/a n/a n/a Ireland 0.1 0.07 70
capacity 1981 production utilisation millions of tonnes of crude steel per cent. United Kingdom 25.5 15.4 60 West Germany 67.7 41.6 61 Italy 39.8 24.8 62 France 29.6 21.2 72 Belgium 19.1 12.2 64 Luxembourg 6.4 3.8 59 Netherlands 8.6 5.5 64 Denmark 0.9 0.6 67 Greece 2.4 0.9 38 Ireland 0.3 0.03 *10 * Ireland's only company was undergoing major restructuring at the time.
Sources: ECSC investment review and Eurostat.
§ Mr. Moateasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will make a statement indicating the scale of rationalisation and reduction of capacity that has taken place in the United Kingdom steel industry in recent years; and if he will list the private sector steel works that have been closed down during the same period.
§ Mr. Butcher:I will reply to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will publish a table showing steel capacity and steel production, respectively, in the United Kingdom and the rest of the EEC, respectively, in the last 12 month period for which figures are available; and if he will publish comparable totals for the previous 10 years.
§ Mr. Butcher[pursuant to his reply, 25 October 1982, c. 285]: Information as is readily available for comparable periods is given in the following table.
403W
Million tonnes Crude steel production(1)(3) Crude steel capacity(2)(3) UK Rest of EEC UK Rest of EEC 1972 25.3 114.4 31.0 143.2 1973 26.6 124.5 28.9 146.9 1974 22.3 134.1 27.8 152.4 1975 20.1 106.4 27.0 164.2
Crude steel production(1)(3) Crude steel capacity(2)(3) UK Rest of EEC UK Rest of EEC 1976 22.3 112.9 29.2 169.8 1977 20.4 106.7 28.9 173.1 1978 20.3 113.3 27.9 175.5 1979 21.5 119.7 28.9 175.9 1980 *11.3 117.5 28.0 176.8 1981 15.6 110.7 †25.5 †174.8 1982 †11.0 †76.7 †25.2 †175.1 Sources:
(1) EUROSTAT.
(2) European Coal and Steel Community.
(3) OECD.
*Crude steel production was reduced by the effect of the steel dispute.
† Estimated
‡ January-September.
Note:
Capacity figures are available only on an annual basis.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Industry what was the total consumption and production of steel in the United Kingdom, respectively, in the last 12 month period for which figures are available; and what were the comparable figures in the same period of each of the previous 10 years.
§ Mr. Butcher[pursuant to his reply, 25 October 1982, c. 285]Information as is readily available for comparable periods is given in the following table:
Million tonnes United Kingdom consumption of steel (1) United Kingdom production of crude steel (2) 1972 16.8 25.3 1973 18.5 26.6 1974 17.6 22.3 1975 15.5 20.1 1976 15.8 22.3 1977 15.3 20.4 1978 15.6 20.3 1979 15.2 21.5 1980 12.6 *11.3 1981 12.1 15.6 11.0 1982 (first quarter) 3.4 †January-September Sources:
(1) Department of Industry.
(2) Iron and Steel Statistics Bureau.
Notes :
*Production reduced by the impact of the steel dispute.
†For comparison purposes, United Kingdom production of crude steel in the first quarter of 1982 was 4.1 million tonnes.