§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Industry, at current rates of consumption, what is the anticipated life of current reserves of chrome, cobalt, nickel, 127W manganese, tin and copper (a) in the world and (b) in the free world.
§ Mr. David MitchellAt current rates of consumption the expected life of known reserves in the world and the world excluding COMECON countries is as follows:
World years World excluding COMECON countries years Chrome … 280 370 Cobalt … 60 60 Nickel … 80 90 Manganese … 240 210 Tin … 50 50 Copper … 50 60 These estimates are constantly changing due to the discovery of new resources, developments in mining and mineral processing techniques, and to short and long-term variations in consumption.
IMPORTS AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL DELIVERIES TO UNITED KINGDOM MARKET 1976 1977 1978 1979 January-September Rods and bars for reinforcement 21 15 16 10 Wire rods and other rods and bars in coil 11 14 11 14 Other light rolled sections and hot rolled bars 11 18 22 21 Heavy rails and accessories 0 0 13 11 Other heavy rolled products 8 9 9 13 Plates 29 30 28 27 Sheets (coated and uncoated) 39 36 41 35 Hot rolled strip 7 8 7 8 Cold rolled strip 9 11 13 15 Tinplate and buckplate 13 11 12 14 Tubes and pipes 28 28 19 24 TOTAL FINISHED STEEL PRODUCTS 21 20 21 21 Source: ISSB. Imports exclude material for conversion.