§ 32. Mr. Hardyasked the Secretary of State for Industry what was the total steel production capacity in the United Kingdom on 1 May 1979; and what he estimates capacity is at the present time.
§ Mr. Michael MarshallSteel capacity figures are not available on a monthly basis. In 1979 installed steelmaking capacity in the United Kingdom averaged 28.9 million tonnes of crude steel per annum. The comparable figure for 1981 was estimated in January this year as 25.4 million crude tonnes. Not all this capacity is being used; manned capacity is currently estimated to be about 17.5 million crude tonnes.