HC Deb 13 July 1937 vol 326 cc1067-8W
Mr. Mainwaring

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that certain contracts for the supply of iron and steel goods and of coal have first been offered in this country and, due to failure of supply, have since been placed in Germany; and what steps he is taking to prevent any further cases of this happening?

Mr. Stanley

I am aware that certain orders for iron and steel goods have been placed in Germany after they had been offered in this country; but I am not aware of any recent instance in which owing to inability to obtain coal in this country contracts have been placed in Germany. Every endeavour is being made to increase the supplies of iron and steel available in this country to enable all home and export orders to be met. I would point out that exports of iron and steel manufactures for the first five months of this year exceeded those of the same period for each of the preceding six years.

Mr. E. Smith

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the growing shortage of iron ore, he will again consider the report of the departmental committee of 1916 that investigated and reported on the iron and steel trades with particular reference to paragraph 7, and consider its application to the rich resources of Australia in consultation with the Australian State Governments and prepare a co-operative trading arrangement?

Mr. Stanley

I cannot usefully add anything to the answer which my predecessor gave to the hon. Member on 25th May.

Mr. Hall-Caine

asked the President of the Board of Trade how the potential output of iron and steel in Great Britain compares with that in 1919; and, in view of the fact that the present shortage of steel in this country is mainly due to our increased reliance on imports of foreign steel which in turn have obliged many iron and steel companies in Great Britain to close down, what steps are being taken to ensure that our present condition will be so remedied as to prevent a recurrence of the difficulties at some future date?

Mr. Stanley

Information as to the potential output in 1919 is not available. The actual output of steel ingots and castings in 1936 was 11¾ million tons as compared with 7.9 million tons in 1919 and the rate of output is still increasing. For further information on the subject I would refer my hon. Friend to the recent report (Cmd. 5507) of the Import Duties Advisory Committee on the present position and future development of the iron and steel industry.