§ Mr. Dormandasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will state the number of tons of coal imported in each of the last three years, the average cost per ton in each of those years, and the cost per ton of domestically produced coal in each of those years.
§ Mr. RidleyFigures of imports are published in Volume 1 of the Annual Statement of Trade for 1969 and 1970 and in table III of the December, 1971, issue of the Overseas Trade Statistics. The average c.i.f. value per ton was £9.85, £11.67, £9.42 in 1969, 1970 and 1971, respectively; these average values are not true prices as they are influenced by varying qualities of coal, transport costs to United Kingdom ports and other factors. Average colliery proceeds per ton for coal produced by the National Coal Board, not including distribution costs, were £5.12 per ton in 1969–70, £5.84 per ton in 1970–71 and are estimated at £6.70 per ton for 1971–72.