§ Mr. Lennox-Boydasked the Prime Minister if he will make a comprehensive statement as to the quantity and value of goods bought in bulk from overseas by various Government Departments during 1947 together with a statement of the respective deliveries.
§ Mr. H. Wilson,pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 15th November, 1948; Vol. 458, c. 9], supplied the following statement
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2. METALS BOUGHT IN BULK FROM OVERSEAS BY THE MINISTRY OF SUPPLY DURING 1947 Material Quantity Purchased Value (f.o.b.) Quantity delivered to United Kingdom in 1947 Value (c.i.t unless otherwise stated) Tons £ Tons £ Chrome Ore 96,285 420,500 88,755 754,418 Molybdenite Concentrate — — 31 7,000 Tungsten Ore — — 440 140,785 Lead 196,000 13,702,250 194,411 13,914,206 Zinc 141,000 8,268,000 148,750 8,946,005 Copper (blister and electrolytic) 303,500 32,017,300 285,070 (a) 31,072,630 Tin Ore (Tin Content) 9,180 (b) 3,635,160 9,180 3,704,500 Virgin Aluminium 104,817 6,813,105 96,451 6,655,119 Pig Iron 11,500 114,000 4,742 66,000 f.o.b. Steel 375,000 7,339,000 403,692 (c) 7,547.000 f.o.b. (a) Excludes tonnages returned from toll refining overseas of Ministry copper and copper alloy scrap as refined copper. (b) Also excludes tonnages of tin ore bought and imported on private account although the meta produced in the United Kingdom from such purchases is taken over by the Ministry. Excludes also purchases of tin metal in Malaya by the Ministry (total 24,945 tons is 1947, value £10,537,000) not brought to United Kingdom. (c) Deliveries of steel include purchases made before 1947.
3. COMMODITIES BOUGHT IN BULK FROM OVERSEAS BY THE MINISTRY OF FOOD DURING 1947 — Payments for purchases during the calendar year 1947 Imports during calendar year 1947 Quantity Value (d) Quantity Tons '000 £000 Tons '000 Fruits and Vegetables (a) … … … 1,157.1 47,881 1,127.6 Fish(b) … … … 66.7 7,032 96.5 Meat and Bacon (c) … … … 1,353.0 124,722 1,384.2 Tea, Coffee and Cocoa … … … 330.1 60,386 324.5 Cereals, Pulses, Starch and Animal Feedingstuffs … 6,711.5 135,330 6,577.7 Sugar and Glucose … … … 1,841.5 48,879 1,878.1 Milk Products, Eggs, Oils and Fats … … … 2,097.3 190,727 2,187.3 13,557.2 614,957 13,575.9 (a) Including canned fruit, dried fruit and edible nuts and fruit juices. (b) Including canned fish. (c) Including canned meat, poultry and rabbits. (d) F.O.B. cost.