§ 17. Mr. Hardyasked the Secretary of State for Industry which of the major European steel producers have provided a greater return on capital or made larger payments of interest per tonne of steel produced than British Steel Corporation during the last three years.
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§ Mr. Michael MarshallFigures for comparative return on capital are not available. The French and Italian State companies paid more than twice as much interest per tonne as BSC in 1976–78. The German, Dutch and Belgian companies paid about three-quarters as much interest as BSC. Figures for 1979 are not available for the other European producers. For BSC, the interest paid is being steadily reduced because all BSC's external financing requirements since 1 April 1978 have been met by subscriptions of capital under section 18 of the Iron and Steel Act 1975 on which no interest is paid.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Industry what representations he has received from the Confederation of British Industry about the effects of the steel strike on British industry to date and its possible effects if continued.
§ Mr. Michael MarshallMinisters have received no formal representations from the CBI about the effect of the steel strike, apart from its effect upon applicants for regional development grant, who, because of a shortage of steel, may not provide assets before 1 August 1980 and thus lose grant under the transitional arrangements for the changes in the regional development grants scheme and assisted area status announced on 17 July 1979.
§ Mr. John H. Osbornasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will tabulate in the Official Report the tonnage and value of steel produced by the private sector of the steel industry and British Steel Corporation, respectively, and in total by categories recognised by his Department, together with a comparison with consumption and amounts and value exported and imported for each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. Michael Marshall[pursuant to his reply, 28 January 1980, c. 438–39]: Production data were published in the Official Report—[Vol. 978, c. 235–242]—dated 8 February 1980. The public and private sectors are not separately identified in consumption, imports and exports series. The available information on consumption is published in
57WBritish Business, formerly Trade and Industry, copies of which are in the
TRADE IN STEEL Imports Exports Steel Industry Products Year Tonnage'000 tonnes Value (cif) £'000s Tonnage'000 tonnes Value (fob) £'000s Non Alloy (including ordinary and high carbon grades). 1970 … … 2,088.6 122,472 3,513.3 248,752 1971 … … 1,895.8 121,873 4,412.2 293,476 1972 … … 2,523.7 160,684 4,069.8 270,970 1973 … … 2,609.3 250,545 3,624.0 306,467 1974 … … 3,596.6 510,396 2,684.5 358,609 1975 … … 3,593.8 594,959 2,603.1 448,112 1976* … … 3,939.4 675,801 3,336.9 605,994 1977* … … 3,550.6 665,461 4,013.1 744,931 1978* … … 3,528.1 761,117 3,966.5 804,003 1979 (October)* 3,014.3 699,250 3,346.5 757,288 Stainless 1970 … … 50.3 29,284 23.9 13,866 1971 … … 58.3 28,863 30.8 16,604 1972 … … 69.0 31,591 34.5 17,250 1973 … … 75.8 38,244 45.5 22,985 1974 … … 78.1 53,083 46.5 33,048 1975 … … 52.8 45,338 39.9 35,693 1976 … … 74.6 67,086 37.6 36,238 1977 … … 83.6 93,277 49.6 56,000 1978 … … 81.7 79,581 61.5 51,007 1979 (October) 83.0 84,491 56.6 52,653 Other Alloy 1970* … … 71.0 16,755 264.6 43,805 1971* … … 48.3 13,475 263.3 41,110 1972* … … 68.7 12,566 347.6 43,402 1973* … … 96.0 22,416 356.2 47,259 1974* … … 132.1 41,665 389.5 69,019 1975 … … 88.5 34,112 378.4 80,149 1976 … … 79.9 38,779 168.2 45,611 1977 … … 84.7 46,436 203.2 60,729 1978 … … 61.8 37,438 206.7 63,770 1979 (October) 65.8 41,694 205.0 64,116 Total, All Products 1970 … … 2,209.9 168,511 3,801.8 306,423 1971 … … 2,002.4 164,212 4,706.3 351,190 1972 … … 2,661.4 204,840 4,451.9 331,622 1973 … … 2,781.1 311,206 4,025.7 376,711 1974 … … 3,806.8 605,144 3,120.5 460,676 1975 … … 3,735.1 674,409 3,021.4 563,954 1976 … … 4,093.9 781,666 3,542.8 687,843 1977 … … 3,718.9 805,174 4,265.9 861,660 1978 … … 3,671.6 878,136 4,234.7 918,780 1979 (October) 3,163.1 825,435 3,608.1 874,057 * Includes free-cutting and silico-manganese grades.
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Non Alloy Products (including ordinary and high carbon grades) Imports Exports Year Tonnage '000 tonnes Value (cif) £'000s Tonnage '000 tonnes Value (fob) £'000s Ingots, blooms, billets and slabs. 1970 … … 1,006.0 41,965 144.8 4,991 1971 … … 395.9 15,070 146.5 6,258 1972 … … 295.9 11,003 141.0 6,770 1973 … … 106.3 5,633 118.8 7,808 1974 … … 123.1 12,326 139.8 12,368 1975 … … 205.0 19,255 150.1 15,301 1976 … … 386.0 41,282 137.1 17,652 1977 … … 234.2 29,646 266.8 30,371 1978 … … 248.8 32,923 183.0 25,630 1979 (October) 288.1 40,009 134.4 18,879 Rods and bars: light angles, tees and sections. 1970 … … 373.2 21,598 668.6 39,576 1971 … … 411.3 22,369 764.5 44,065 1972 … … 769.7 35,605 723.8 42,491 1973 … … 577.4 47,634 717.3 50,306 1974 … … 504.8 63,030 505.8 55,446 1975 … … 404.5 49,914 612.8 75,603 1976 … … 453.3 64,509 966.5 134,668 1977 … … 471.8 79,129 1,248.3 181,875 1978 … … 520.8 94,738 1,473.7 233,820 1979 (October) 442.8 91,075 1,178.2 215,560 Commons Library; that on imports and exports is as follows:—
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Non Alloy Products (including ordinary and high carbon grades) Imports Exports Year Tonnage '000 tonnes Value (cif) £'000s Tonnage '000 tonnes Value (fob) £'000s Heavy sections (including rails and sheet piling). 1970 … … 21.3 1,372 412.3 21,081 1971 … … 23.3 1,466 556.7 31,066 1972 … … 58.8 3,442 404.5 24,115 1973 … … 110.6 9,653 405.3 27,122 1974 … … 125.9 15,938 415.4 41,764 1975 … … 54.9 7,774 485.4 59,932 1976 … … 89.6 13,077 548.0 73,233 1977 … … 106.6 18,141 574.4 89,568 1978 … … 137.8 26,456 344.1 54,799 1979 (October) 169.1 34,289 376.6 69,963 Plate and sheet in coil and lengths (including tinplate). 1970 … … 556.6 36,615 1,642.8 110,607 1971 … … 823.9 51,868 2,252.0 139,160 1972 … … 1,261.3 79,807 2,215.6 132,484 1973 … … 1,373.4 118,506 1,699.3 133,880 1974 … … 1,970.1 254,204 1,020.5 128,185 1975 … … 2,105.7 269,333 781.3 120,942 1976 … … 2,576.0 402,393 1,040.8 172,576 1977 … … 2,324.1 402,460 1,319.6 231,840 1978 … … 2,305.2 466,922 1,365.5 246,819 1979 (October) 1,768.5 386,020 1,155.5 232,130 Strip 1970 … … 16.6 3,159 150.0 12,581 1971 … … 35.8 4,206 131.2 10,846 1972 … … 49.9 5,461 95.8 8,518 1973 … … 49.2 8,240 150.7 14,403 1974 … … 148.6 23,271 106.3 18,794 1975 … … 92.0 15,403 79.8 17,034 1976 … … 57.2 14,763 112.2 27,887 1977 … … 63.0 19,454 108.7 33,362 1978 … … 70.5 24,815 106.9 33,035 1979 (October) 68.1 24,620 94.0 30,258 Tubes 1970 … … 112.2 16,868 449.4 50,884 1971 … … 202.6 25,349 506.8 51,188 1972 … … 175.3 23,603 443.8 46,513 1973 … … 387.5 58,629 467.0 58,771 1974 … … 717.0 137,582 412.0 78,956 1975 … … 720.9 224,950 412.3 126,729 1976 … … 367.9 130,482 464.1 145,754 1977 … … 341.3 106,736 427.7 139,531 1978 … … 231.2 100,072 447.2 175,755 1979 (October) 267.4 113,578 350.5 152,966 Tyres, wheels, axles: unworked castings and forgings. 1970 … … 2.7 895 45.4 9,032 1971 … … 3.3 1,545 54.5 10,893 1972 … … 2.7 1,375 45.3 10,079 1973 … … 4.9 2,250 65.6 14,177 1974 … … 7.1 4,045 84.7 23,096 1975 … … 10.8 8,330 81.4 32,571 1976 … … 9.4 9,295 68.2 34,224 1977 … … 9.6 9,895 67.6 38,384 1978 … … 7.1 8,380 52.1 34,145 1979 (October) 5.7 5,404 57.3 37,532 Source: Iron and Steel Statistics Bureau.