§ Mr. David Priceasked the Secretary of State for Industry what is the percentage of installed productive capacity currently utilised in each sector of British manufacturing industry at the latest convenient date; and in each case, what are the current plans to increase that capacity.
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§ Mr. CryerInformation is not generally available about the level of capacity utilisation in particular sectors of manufacturing. For the sectors for which information is available the figures* for 1977 are as follows:
Per cent. Mineral oil refining 66 Iron and steel 68 Non-ferrous metals† 75 Man-made fibres 60 Bricks 70 Cement‡ 80 Paper and board 85 * Estimates based on official and trade sources. † Relates to aluminium, copper, lead and zinc. ‡ Excludes ready mix. An indication of the extent of full capacity working in different industrial sectors is available from the Confederation of British Industry's quarterly Industrial Trends Survey.
The Department's investment intentions survey suggests that the volume of manufacturing industry's investment will be 10 per cent. to 13 per cent. higher in 1978 than in 1977. Higher rises are expected for the coal and petroleum products, the chemicals and the vehicles industries; average rises for the nonferrous metals, the engineering, the textiles, leather and clothing and the paper, printing and publishing industries; and little change for the food, drink and tobacco and the residual "other manufacturing" industries. The extent to which this investment will increase productive capacity is not known. For the iron and steel industry, future investment by BSC and the resulting capacity position are explained in White Paper Cmnd. 7149 of March 1978 "British Steel Corporation, the Road to Viability."