§ Mr. Haleasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether he is aware that the production of woven cotton cloth diminished from 20,600,000 linear yards weekly in November, 1965 to 17,500,000 linear yards weekly in November, 1966; and what are the comparative figures for December, 1966 and January, 1967;
(2) whether he is aware that the weekly production of cloth woven from manmade fibres and mixtures diminished from 13,100,000 linear yards in November, 1965 to 11,900,000 linear yards in November, 1966; and whether he is now in a position to state the comparable figures for December, 1966 and January, 1967;
(3) whether he is aware that the production of yarn and yarn in the cotton and man-made fibre textile industry in November, 1966 was 6 per cent. less than in November, 1965; and what was the comparable figure of production in December, 1966 and January, 1967.
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§ Mr. J. P. W. MallalieuYes. The figures of weekly average production for December, 1966 are given below.
Single yarn Doubled yarn Woven cloth Cotton yarn Spun man-made fibre yarns and mixture yarn. inc. waste Cotton yarn Other Cotton Main-made fibre and mixtures Million lb. Million linear yards 7.59 2.30 2.16 1.73 14.2 9.6
§ Mr. Haleasked the President of the Board of Trade what is the estimated planned increase of production of cotton and man-made fibres, yarn and cloth by the end of the present year under the revised National Plan.
§ Mr. J. P. W. MallalieuThe National Plan has not yet been revised and this estimate is not available.
§ Mr. Haleasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will take steps to arrange for the publication in the Monthly Digest of Statistics and of the Board of Trade Journal of Statistical Information relating to the cotton and man-made fibre textile industry more promptly than at present.
§ Mr. J. P. W. MallalieuThese statistics are collected by the Textile Council and released in Press notices as soon as they are available (about 5 to 6 weeks after the month to which they relate). Their subsequent publication in the Monthly Digest of Statistics and in the Board of Trade Journal is subject only to the normal delays of printing and publication.
§ Mr. Haleasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the importance to the industry of the existing protective import duties on manmade fibres and woven cloth; and whether he will refuse any further reduction in the Kennedy Round negotiations, in view of the present difficulties of the industry.
§ Mr. J. P. W. MallalieuI am aware of the importance of these duties. It is our objective in the Kennedy Round to secure advantages in other markets which will compensate for reductions in our own duties.
164WFigure for January, 1967 will not be available until next month.