Chemical Industry (Hansard, 26 July 1982)

§ Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Secretary of State for Industry (1) whether he will set out in the Official Report a table showing for 1952, 1962, 1972 and 1981 the

Table 1: Index of production of the chemicals industry (1975 = 100)
	1952	1960	1962	1967	1972	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982^*
United Kingdom	27	49	51	72	95	117	119	110	109	107
Germany (FR)	†	33	†	64	99	121	128	123	125	†
France	†	34	†	62	97	124	133	131	134	†
Italy	†	31	†	67	90	123	131	135	132	†
United States of America	†	41	†	71	100	134	143	141	146	†
Japan	†	22	†	55	102	131	143	144	145	†
Source:
United Kingdom—national statistics.
Other countries—United Nations and Eurostat.
^* Seasonally adjusted.
† Not readily available.

There is no readily available information on the value of sales (or production) expect for the United Kingdom. This is given in table 2.

Table 2: value of Sales in the Chemical Industry
Year	Amount
	£ million
1952	910
1960	1,730
1967	2,800
1972	4,490
1978	14,090
1979	16,840
1980	17,460
1981	18,530
^*1982	4,860
Source: 1972, 1978, 1979—Annual Census of Production.
Other years—estimates based on Censuses of Production and BSO manufacturers' quarterly sales inquiries.
^* 1st Quarter.

Information on the volume of exports is only readily available for the United Kingdom. This is shown in table 3.

Table 3: Export Volume Index of Chemicals (1975 = 100)
Year	Export Index
1952	15
1960	35
1967	56
1972	85
1978	154
1979	157
1980	149
1981	—^*
†‡1982	158
Source: United Kingdom—Overseas Trade Statistics, SITC(R2) Section 5.
^* Not available.
† Seasonally adjusted.
‡ 1st Quarter.

The value of exports for the countries specified was as follows. Figures for 1981 are not available.

production index and value of chemicals imported and exported by the United Kingdom, Germany, France and the United States of America;

(2) whether he will bring up to date the information on the chemical industry in the reply of 26 November 1979, Official Report, c. 486.

§ Mr. MacGregor

The available information is as follows:

Table 4 Value of chemicals exported
£ million
Year	United Kingdom	Germany (FR)	France	Italy	USA	Japan
1952	150	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
1960	320	450	210	90	610	60
1962	344	516	234	128	666	93
1967	490	980	450	250	1,020	250
1972	950	2,160	970	490	1,650	710
1978	4,210	8,770	4,600	1,930	6,570	2,620
1979	4,911	10,540	5,476	2,732	8,692	2,827
1980	5,290	10,456	5,697	2,367	9,644	2,846
1982 Q1^*	1,543	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Source: United Kingdom —Overseas Trade Statistics
Other countries —OECD Series C
UN Monthly Bulletin of Statistics
^* Seasonally adjusted.
n.a. = Not available.

The value of imports for the countries specified was as follows. Figures for 1981 are not available.

Table 5 Value of chemicals imported
£ million
Year	United Kingdom	Germany (FR)	France	Italy	USA	Japan
1952	42	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
1962	174	174	150	139	183	91
1972	652	1,004	874	626	806	459
1979	3,404	5,836	4,655	3,291	3,691	2,333
1980	3,148	5,734	5,241	3,443	3,857	2,553
Source: United Kingdom —Overseas Trade Statistics
Other countries —OECD Series C
UN Monthly Bulletin of Statistics
n.a. = Not available.