Newsprint

HC Deb 10 December 1945 vol 417 cc165-6W

Lieut.-Commander Joynson-Hicks

asked the President of the Board of Trade the tonnage of newsprint consumed in the United Kingdom in each of the first 11 months of 1939 and 1945 respectively.

Sir S. Cripps

The individual monthly figures of consumption for the first 11 months of 1939 are not available. The average monthly consumption by newspapers and periodicals in January-November, 1939, was 86,200 tons. Their monthly consumption in 1945 was as follows: —

—	1937 January to November.	1939 January to November.	1941 January to November.	1945 January to October.
	£	£	£	£
Canada	…	…	…	…	1,082,831	1,596,206	1,804,907	1,635,872
Newfoundland	…	…	…	1,631,656	1,359,983	724,448	2,386,849
Finland	…	…	…	…	638,910	601,781	—	—
Sweden	…	…	…	…	123,279	228,292	—	—
Norway	…	…	…	…	183.723	161,371	—	—
Other Foreign Countries	…	9,093	24,931	14,034	—

Raw materials for newsprint production are also used for the manufacture of other types of paper and it is not therefore possible to give values of materials imported for newsprint production.

Lieut.-Commander Joynson - Hicks

asked the President of the Board of Trade what stocks of newsprint were held in the United Kingdom on 30th November 1937, 31st August 1939, 30th November 1941, 30th April 1945 and 30th November 1945.

Sir S. Cripps

Figures of stocks at 30th November, 1937, are not available. The stocks at the end of August, 1939, November, 1941, April, 1945 and November, 1945, were 208,672 tons, 186,321 tons, 110,715 tons and 145,318 tons respectively.

January	21,624
February	21,828
March	21,867
April	27,076
May	21,763
June	23,483
July	30,255
August	23,818
September	30,018
October	24,166
November (to 25th November only)	24,265

There is also a small consumption for other purposes, of which monthly figures are not available.

Lieut.-Commander Joynson - Hicks

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state, specifying the countries from which it was obtained, the value of the newsprint and of the raw material for manufacture into newsprint, respectively, which was imported into the United Kingdom in the first 11 months of 1937, 1939, 1941 and 1945.

Sir S. Cripps

Figures of imports for November, 1945, are not yet available, but imports of newsprint in reels in the first 11 months of 1937, 1939, 1941, and the first 10 months of 1945 are as follows: