§ Mr. Ellis Smithasked the Minister of Supply if he will set out in tabular form the prices in Britain and the U.S.A. for the years 1914, 1932, 1938, 1943 and 1944 of basic pig-iron, soft open-hearth billets, cost of commodity conversion and the labour costs; the costs of wire rods and finished wire; the costs of tube from the basic pig-iron to the finished tube, and the labour costs; the price of galvanized, tinned and black steel sheets and plates, in tons, under one-eighth inch thick, and the labour costs; and the amount in tons exported from Britain in 1913, 1934 and 1938.
§ Sir A. DuncanPrices of the products in question in the United Kingdom and the United States are set out in the table appended. It will be observed from the notes below that the U.K. prices mostly include delivery and the U.S. do not. U.S.A. prices for 1913 or 1914 are not readily available and U.K. prices in 1914 fluctuated considerably. It must be borne in mind that the U.S.A. figures throughout and those for the U.K. in 1913 and 1932 are taken from figures published in trade journals or manufacturers' lists and are not necessarily the prices at which actual sales took place. Comparative detailed costs are not available.
A statement of U.K. exports of iron and steel in 1913, 1934 and 1938 is also appended.
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Comparison of U.K.—U.S.A. Prices for 1913, 1932, 1938, 1943 and 1944 — 1913. 1932. 1938. 1943 and 1944. U.K. U.S.A. U.K. U.S.A. U.K. U.S.A. U.K. U.S.A. 3.50 $ to £ 4.89 $ to £ 4 $ to £ £ s. d. £ s. d. $ £ s. d. £ s. d. $ £ s. d. £ s. d. $ £ s. d. Basic Pig Iron … 2 17 6 Not available. 2 17 6 14.45 4 2 7 4 15 0 21.75 4 9 0 5 15 6 23.50 5 17 6 Billets Soft Basic … 5 10 3 5 6 1 27.45 7 16 9 7 17 6 36.50 7 9 3 12 5 0 35.00 8 15 0 SHEETS U.K. Close Rolled … — — — — — — — — — — Close Annealed 21/24G … 8 16 7 9 5 0 — — 15 7 6 — — 22 4 0 — — U.S.A. Cold Reduced 21G … — — 66.10 18 17 8 — 79.05 16 3 5 — 72.80 18 4 1 24G … — — 71.70 20 9 8 — 84.65 17 6 4 — 78.40 19 12 0 Galvanised 24G … 11 18 4 11 5 0 63.10 18 0 6 18 10 0 81.65 16 14 0 26 2 6 78.40 19 12 0 Tinplate … 13 12 0 15 16 4 105.00 30 0 0 22 6 0 114.25 23 7 3 30 17 0 112.00 28 0 0 NOTES British prices. All prices are delivered prices, except tinplate which is f.o.b. makers' works. Rebates have been allowed where applicable. Published trade prices are used for 1913 and 1932; these show the tendency of prices and not necessarily prices at which transactions actually took place. American prices. These are at works "basing point" prices. From £1 to £2 per ton according to product must be added to the U.S.A. prices to cover carriage charges, e.g. to New York. All prices are those published in trade journals, etc. Allowances or additions to these are commonly applied according to market conditions, the allowances being of particular importance in the case of cold reduced sheets in 1938. Exchange rates, pre-war, are average of those ruling during the year.
Exports of Iron and Steel by Product for the Years 1913, 1934, and 1938 Product. 1913. 1934. 1938. Tons Tons Tons Pig Iron, Forge and Foundry 700,881 74,533 44,375 Pig Iron, Acid 242,117 47,910 25,690 Pig Iron, Basic 2,264 842 23,947 Ferro Alloys 178,919 9,909 6,787 Iron and Steel Ingots, Blooms, Billets and Slabs 4,478 12,725 9,706 Iron Bars and Rods 141,452 8,248 3,197 Iron Angles, Shapes and Sections 1,305 486 Steel Bars and Rods (other than Special Steel)— Sheet Bars, Tinplate Bars 251,059 19,633 22,162 Wire Rods and Bright Steel Bars 122,926 Rods (other than wire rods) 31 Flats, 5 ins. wide and under 15,968 Flats, over 5″ wide 6,694 Other (including rounds, squares and hexagons)— Under 3″ 68,914 3″ and over 10,598 Steel Angles, Shapes and Sections— Channels—3″ web and under 50,354 3,910 Channels over 3″ web 15,770 Other 47,273 Girders, Beams, Joists and Pillars— Not Fabricated— 3″ web and under 121,870 21,275 2,863 Over 3″ web 26,762 Fabricated 4,099 3,900 Hoops, Baling and Barrel 45,708 44,005 29,346 Hoop and Strip for Tubes 1,337 616 Bright Cold Rolled Strip 1,994 2,895 Other Strip Not separately shown 4,551 Steel Plates and Sheets ⅛″ thick and over— Universal Plates 136,380 164,462 669 ⅛″ and under 3/16″ 11,944 3/16″ and over 118,439 Steel Black Plates under ⅛″ thick 71,775 39,025 14,530 Steel Black Sheets under ⅛″ thick 68,152 140,520 63,516 Galvanised Sheets 762,075 248,836 147,332 Tinned Plates and Terne Plates and Sheets 494,497 377,995 323,728 Tinned Sheets, Tinned Plates, Sheets, etc. for boxes and other containers 9,777 5,764 Tubes, Pipes and Fittings— Cast 235,052 97,953 91,931 Wrought 164,556 240,789 220,011 Steel Rails (New) Railway 500,117 113,255 97,819 Steel Rails Grooved for Trams 6,468 3,408 3,123 Sleepers, Fishplates and Soleplates 118,764* 17,248 25,618 Railway Wheels and Axles (complete) 42,860 6,367 15,043 Railway Tyres and Axles 30,041 19,396 29,269 Castings and Forgings in the rough or machined 7,601† 5,663 1,626 Wire 60,532 48,655 55,314 Wire Manufactures 55,739 27,240 29,508 Other Manufactures 525,868 268,492 330,526 4,969,225 2,250,176 1,961,951 * Excludes Soleplates. † Excludes Castings and Forgings machined.