§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will list the cost of wood imports and exports in each of 840W the last eight years; and what action he is taking to reduce the former and increase the latter.
§ Mr. MeacherThe value of overseas trade in wood—including lumber, plywood, wood-based panels, and other forms of wood simply prepared—is given in the table below. The prospects for increasing exports of wood are limited by our high level of domestic consumption, but the services of the British Overseas Trade Board are always available to exporters and have been made use of by some sections of the wood production industry.
IMPORTS (c.i.f.) (£million) 1971 336.8 1972 372.5 1973 669.4 1974 770.8 1975 537.5 1976 829.7 1977 893.3 1978 919.5
EXPORTS (f.o.b.) (£million) 1971 6.5 1972 6.9 1973 11.3 1974 17.0 1975 15.1 1976 21.3 1977 30.0 1978 31.6 Source: U. K. Overseas Trade Statistics (SITC/Rev 1 Groups 241–243 and 631 and corresponding items under SITC/Rev 2).