§ Mr. John H. Osbornasked the Secretary of State for Industry (1) if he will tabulate in the Official Report the volume and value of steel consumed in this country so far in the current year, by grade, respectively, and in total, indicating how much has been imported, how much supplied by the private sector of the steel industry, how much by the public sector and how the position compares with the same period in 1980;
(2) if he will tabulate in the Official Report the value and tonnage of steel manufactured by the public and private sectors of the steel industry, respectively, so far in the current year and in total, indicating how much has been exported, how much has been put on the home market and how much this compares with the same period in 1980.
§ Mr. Michael MarshallValue information of the kind requested for consumption and production is not generally available, nor, for commercial reasons, is a split between 17W the public and private sector. Further, the range of information available for 1981 has been affected by the unavailability of detailed trade data beyond January, due to the Civil Service dispute. In addition, figures for 1980 were affected by the effect of the steel dispute. Appropriate information as is available for 1981 is given below, together with the corresponding figures for 1980 and, to provide a more meaningful comparison, for 1979.
In respect of consumption, the provisional estimate of total finished steel consumption for the first quarter of 1981 is 3.01 million tonnes (seasonally adjusted). This compares with 3.02 million tonnes in the first quarter of 1980 and 3.64 million tonnes in the corresponding period of 1979.
In respect of production, the provisional estimate of United Kingdom crude steel production in the first half of 1981 is 7676 thousand tonnes*. This compares with 4989 thousand tonnes in the first half of 1980 and 10953 thousand tonnes in the corresponding period of 1979.
*Source: Iron and Steel Statistics Bureau.