§ Lieut.-Colonel Sharpasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will increase the allocation of meta cresol to the plastics industry; how present production figures of meta cresol compare with those of a year ago and in 1938; to what extent he estimates that they will increase; and to what extent supplies available for British industry are being augmented by imports or reduced by exports.
§ Mr. ShinwellI have been asked to reply. I assume that the question relates to cresylic acid of high metacresol content. My Ministry works closely with the Tar Distilling Industry to secure the maximum amount of meta-rich cresylic acid of grades suitable for the Plastics Industry from the crude tar production of the country. There is no system of allocation in operation. Production in the first half of 1946 was approximately the same as in the first half of 1945. Statistics for 1938 are not available, but it is known that meta-rich grades were not extracted to the same extent as they are at the present time. As its production depends in the first place upon the amount of coal carbonised, it is not expected that there can be any appreciable increase under present conditions. No meta-rich cresylic acid is exported and there is no known available source of supply for import.