HC Deb 13 February 1978 vol 944 cc69-71W
35. Mr. John H. Osborn

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what has been the tonnage and value of coal and cokes

latest available week expressed as a percentage of output per manshift in the corresponding week in 1977.

Mr. Eadie

100.89 per cent.

31. Mr. Litterick

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what estimates his Department has made of the likely changes in cost per ton of coal extracted as a result of the current round of national and regional wage bargaining in the coal industry; and what is the likely effect of these changes on the relative cost of energy derived from coal as compared with energy derived from other sources.

Mr. Eadie

An increase of 10 per cent. in earnings will add about 5 per cent. to the cost of production. This will not affect the relative standing of coal and other fuels.

Mr. Hardy

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what was the tonnage of coal produced in each of the last 13 weeks and the total for the last and each preceding quarter since 1st January 1974.

Mr. Eadie

The information is as follows:

exported in 1977; how this compares with imports for that year; and what are the comparable figures for the current year following the productivity deal and wage agreement.

Mr. Eadie

Exports in 1977 were 2.78 million tonnes, value £79.9 million, and imports 2.66 million tonnes, value £88.3 million.

For 1978 we expect imports to continue at about the same level, but I hope exports will show a substantial increase, though it is too early to quantify it.

Mr. John H. Osborn

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what discussions he has had with the Chairman of the National Coal Board and the Commission of the EEC in the context of EEC energy policy about increasing the tonnage and value of the coal exported from Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, following the productivity deals and wages settlements that have now been agreed; and to what extent he anticipates this will be carried by barges on rivers and canals, as against train and ship through ports such as Immingham.

Mr. Eadie

Preliminary consultation with Sir Derek Ezra and in the Community gives the hope of a substantial increase in coal exports, but the origin of the coal and the routes by which it might be exported are matters of day-to-day management for the National Coal Board.