§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the quantity of coking coal imported into the United Kingdom during each of the past six years and the trend of overseas purchases.
§ Mr. John MooreInformation on the imports of coking coal into the United Kingdom are published monthly in the "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom", copies of which are available in the Library of the House. For convenience, the figures, including the latest information available for 1979 and a comparable figure for 1978, are as follows:
IMPORTS OF COKING COAL(a) IN THE UNITED KINGDOM million tonnes 1973 1.2 1974 0.9 1975 0.8 1976 1.2 1977 1.2 1978 1.4 January—August 1978 0.9 January—August 1979 1.3 (a) From January 1978, item 2701 1600 in sub-group 322.2 (S1TC R2). The British Steel Corporation is considering with the National Coal Board the future pattern of coking coal supplies.