§ Lieut.-Commander Joynson-Hicksasked the President of the Board of Trade what stocks of towels are at present held in this country; what is the monthly production; and what are the monthly sales to the consumers of towels at the present time.
§ Sir S. CrippsFull particulars of producers' sales of towels to the home civilian market were published in the special section of the ''Board of Trade Journal'' for 27th October. For all types taken together, but excluding tea-towels, the rate for July-August was just over 1,000,000 per month. The corresponding figure for stocks held by the producers at the end of August was 2,250,000. These stocks have been falling recently, the decline since the beginning of 1945 being 1,000,000 towels. Figures are not available for stocks held by distributors or for monthly sales to consumers. Production is now at a level just sufficient to maintain an adequate cushion of stocks.