§ Mr. McMahonasked the Secretary of State for Industry what is the present total United Kingdom steel 515W capacity; and what estimates are available to his Department of United Kingdom domestic demand in total and for particular types of steel year by year until 1990.
§ Mr. ButcherI estimate that at present the United Kingdom steel industry has plant with an installed capacity of just over 24 million tonnes of liquid steel a year. In December 1981 the iron and steel sector working party, set up by the NEDC, produced a report on prospects for United Kingdom steel demand from 1981 to 1985 which identified possible ranges of total demand for each year, the extremes of which over the period were 14.5 to 18.75 million tonnes. Reliable estimates beyond 1985 are not available, nor are forecasts for particular product sectors.
§ Mr. Moateasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will make a statement indicating the scale of rationalisation and reductions 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[pursuant to his reply, 27 October 1982]: I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible and place a copy in the Library.