Textile Industry (Hansard, 11 February 1980)

§ Mr. Thompson

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will publish details of output and employment in man-made fibres and in natural wool textile fibres 433W for each quarter of 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979 in the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Belgium and West Germany.

PRODUCTION OF MAN-MADE FIBRES^*
								Thousand tones
					1976	1977	1978	1979 January-September
United Kingdom	…	…	…	632.9	568.4	619.6	552.9‡
Benelux§	…	…	…	…	211.4	205.1	207.8
France	…	…	…	…	333.5	323.5	320.6
Germany(Federal Republic)	…	909.6	844.3	879.3
Italy	…	…	…	…	515.1	484.0†	489.6†
^* Excludes glass fibre, olefin monofil heavy denier and film fibres including protein fibres.
† Includes Polyproypylene filament.
‡ Not fully comparable with earlier years.
§ Separate figures for Belgium are not readily available.
Sources:
1976–78: C.I.R.F.S. (International Rayon and Synthetic Fibres Committee).
1979: United Kingdom Man-Made Fibres Producers' Committee. Other countries not readily available.
Quarterly figures on a comparable basis are not readily available.

EMPLOYMENT IN THE MAN-MADE FIBRE PRODUCING INDUSTRY^* (OPERATIVES AND ADMINISTRATIVE AND TECHNICAL DEPARTMENTS)
					1976	1977	1978
United Kingdom	…	…	…	34,100†	32,980†	29,630‡
Benelux‡║	…	…	…	…	13,550	12,430	11,470
France‡	…	…	…	…	18,400	16,550	14,900
Germany (Federal Republic)§	…	40,200	36,000	31,900
Italy‡	…	…	…	…	38,300	33,670	32,500
^* Excludes glass fibres and olefins.
†Mid year.
‡End year.
§Monthly averages.
║Figures for Belgium are not readily available.
Source: C.I.R.F.S. (International Rayon and Synthetic Fibres committee). Comparable figures for 1979 have not yet been published.

Details of output in natural wool textile fibres for all the countries listed are available only for wool and hair tops

									Thousand tonnes
					United Kingdom	Belgium	France	German Federal Republic	Italy
Years:
1976	…	…	…	…	56.5	19.5	93.1	41.1	57.1
1977	…	…	…	…	52.3	17.5	85.3	32.7	48.9
1978	…	…	…	…	48.7	16.8	74.0	31.7	47.2
Quarters:
1976—
First quarter	…	…	13.8	4.7	24.1	10.3	14.6
Second quarter	…	…	14.5	5.1	24.3	10.2	14.6
Third quarter	…	…	13.5	4.6	19.2	10.2	12.4
Fourth quarter	…	…	14.7	5.0	25.5	10.4	15.5
1977—
First quarter	…	…	15.3	5.5	25.8	8.9	15.9
Second quarter	…	…	13.9	5.4	23.9	7.8	14.5
Third quarter	…	…	11.1	3.1	15.8	7.9	9.4
Fourth quarter	…	…	12.0	3.5	19.9	8.1	9.1
1978—
First quarter	…	…	13.6	4.6	21.3	8.3	11.0
Second quarter	…	…	12.8	4.5	21.6	8.2	12.3
Third quarter	…	…	10.8	3.6	12.9	7.6	10.7
Fourth quarter	…	…	11.5	4.1	18.2	7.6	13.2
1979—
First quarter	…	…	11.9	4.6	20.0	8.3	15.0
Second quarter	…	…	11.8	5.1	21.1	7.9	14.1
Source: Wool Quarterly published by the Commonwealth Secretariat in conjunction with the International Wool Study Group and the International Wool Textile Organisation.
Employment figures for natural wool textile fibres are not available.

434W