§ Mr. Lewisasked the Minister of Materials to publish in HANSARD a table of figures showing the general percentage rise or fall in the price of articles and commodities since October, 1951, for which his Department are responsible.
43W
§ Sir A. SalterIt is not feasible to construct a general index of price movements covering the entire range of commodities with which the Ministry is concerned. In the following table, however, the change
44W
PRICE INDEX NUMBERS OF MATERIALS FOR INDUSTRY 30TH JUNE, 1949 = 100 October, 1951 February, 1953 Percentage Rise (+) or Fall (-) since October 1951 Basic materials (excluding fuel) for non-food manufacturing industry … … … 182.0 150.5 -17 Aluminium, virgin ingot … … … 137.8 184.4 +34 Copper, H.C. electrolytic … … … 193.2 242.6 +26 Zinc.G.O.B. … … … 243.6 110.2 -55 Lead … … … 213.4 118.4 -45 Tin, ingot min. 99.75 per cent. … … … 178.1 169.8 -5 Nickel, refined … … … 202.7 215.6 +6 Imported softwood … … … 155.5 151.3 -3 Imported hardwood … … … 151.0 132.3 -12 Woodpulp for papermaking … … … 224.4 98.4 -56 Raw Cotton … … … 186.6 142.1 -24 Raw Wool … … … 183.3 161.9 -12 Raw Jute,"Mill Firsts" … … … 239.1 101.7 -57 Sisal, E. Africa No. 1 … … … 245.5 103.2 -58 Sulphur, crude … … … 202.8 190.5 -6 Rubber, No. 1 RSS … … … 455.2 227.0 -50 Hides and Skins … … … 146.8 106.7 -27 Fertilisers … … … 184.9 175.7 -5 Rosin gum, W.W … … … 168.0 130.4 -22 Molasses … … … 240.0 139.7 -42 since October, 1951, in the Board of Trade price index of basic industrial materials is shown, and separate figures are given for a number of the most important individual commodities.