HC Deb 28 October 1992 vol 212 cc674-5W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many tonnes of coal were imported from the Netherlands in 1991; what was the pithead cost of that coal; and if he will make it his policy to impose an anti-dumping duty on such coal.

Mr. Eggar

The Netherlands has closed all its mines and now produces no coal. In 1991 the statistics recorded 6,000 tones of coal originated in the Netherlands. It is assumed that these 6,000 tonnes were first imported into the Netherlands from other countries, processed there, and subsequently re-exported to the United Kingdom. The statistics also record that in 1991, 4.713 million tonnes of coal, destined to the United Kingdom, passed through the Netherlands in consignment.

Mr. Redmond

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list for each port in the United Kingdom, the tonnages of coal imports by year for the last four years; and what were the points of origin.

Mr. Eggar

Breakdowns of coal imports by port of entry, and by country of origin, for the last four years and for the current year to date, are as follows:

1988 1989 1990 1991 11992
Port of entry
Med way 565 652 855 1,989 2,249
Immingham 999 1,268 2,182 3,177 2,206
Middlesbrough 2,570 2,812 2,385 2,894 1,914
Port Talbot 1,997 2,610 2,885 2,655 1,716
London (including Tilbury) 743 782 2,104 3,016 1,596
Greenock 1,164 1,162 1,027 1,209 1,363
Liverpool 31 286 948 1,308 1,152
Belfast 192 182 332 387 536
Hull 1 44 152 416 322
Cardiff 294 229 410 491 292
Swansea 92 134 162 422 140
Others 3,036 1,975 1,340 1,527 983
Total 11,685 12,137 14,783 19,491 14,469
Country of origin
United States of America2 4,073 4,874 6,176 8,132 5,375
Australia2 3,416 2,676 3,044 4,654 3,304
Colombia2 574 874 1,506 2,447 2,505
Canada 553 729 986 760 653
South Africa 276 346 356 579 621
Poland 1,270 1,055 1,043 557 588
USSR 375 181 592 900 574
China 319 450 69 294 162
Germany3 191 288 249 220 160
Venezuela 92 86 169 230 160
Belgium 122 78 60 231 12
Others2 425 501 533 488 354
Total 11,685 12,137 14,783 19,491 14,469
Because of rounding the sum of the constituent items may not agree with the totals shown.
1 January to August.
2 Some imports previously recorded by Customs and Excise as originating in the Netherlands have been re-allocated to the other countries indicated or, where revised country or origin data is not available, included in the residual entry "Others". This re-allocation has been carried out for 1991 and estimates of such imports previously classified to the Netherlands have been included for 1990. Figures for earlier years have not been re-allocated to individual countries.
3 Includes imports previously recorded separately for the German Democratic Republic.

Source: Customs and Excise.

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