§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Industry what information he has as to the extent to which shipbuilding capacity for (a) merchant and (b) naval vessels is State-owned in each of the major shipbuilding countries; and to what extent Government assistance is given to privately owned yards in each country.
§ Mr. ButcherState holdings can take many forms and are not necessarily revealed. The available information on state ownership is as follows:
71W
Merchant Yards Naval Yards United Kingdom Predominantly State-owned State owned Germany Largely private—some public sector holding in certain yards As merchant France Private State owned Italy Substantail Public sector holding Appears to be as merchant Netherlands Minority state holdings Appears to be as merchant Denmark
Merchant Yards Naval Yards Predominantly private Not significant Sweden One state owned major company—remainder private Not significant Norway Mainly private Not significant Finland One state owned company remainder private Not significant Spain Large proportion of state ownership As merchant
ECC Countries Direct aid to shipbuilding, and aid to shipowners Direct Aid to Shipbuliding Home Credit Scheme Aid to Shipowners United Kingdom Up to 17 per cent. of contract price (Includes 2 per cent Shipbuilders Relief) Home Credit Scheme 80 per cent. over 8½ years at 7 per cent. (On orders placed in United Kingdom yards only) Belgium Nil Home Credit Scheme 70 per cent. over 15 years. Interest relief subsidy (maximum 3 percentage points) Denmark Nil Home Credit Scheme 80 per cent. over 12 years at 8 per cent. interest including 2 year grace period France Up to 20 per cent. of contract price. (Excludes cost escalation insurance which benefit ranges from zero to 3 percentage points) Home Credit Scheme 80 per cent. over 8½ years at 7½ per cent. interest. Germany Nil 12½ per cent. investment grant. 4 per cent. interest subsidy. (The Investment Grant automatically reduces the amount of credit to which the Interest Subsidy applies.) Credit Guarantees at OECD terms. Ireland Up to 30 per cent. of contract price. (Scheme expired 31 December 1980. No detail of new scheme yet available) Home Credit Scheme 80 per cent. over 8½ years at 7½ interest. Italy Up to 30 per cent. of contract price. (This relates to 1980 practices under an old scheme. A new scheme is believed to be under discussion with the EC Commission) Home Credit Scheme 70 per cent. over 15 years. Interest subsidy 50 per cent. of official rate. Netherlands Up to 15 per cent. of contract price (1980 scheme, no details of aid scheme for 1981–82 Yet available.) Home Credit Scheme 80 per cent. over 8½ years at minimum of 8 per cent. interest. Investment subsidy of 15 per cent. plus investment premium of 1.1 per cent. for 5 years. Finland Nil Home Credit Scheme 80 per cent. over period of construction (at least 2 years, normally not more than 8 years at 11 per cent. interest. Japan Nil Home Credit Scheme.* Government (Japanese Development Bank) loan of 60 or 70 per cent. over 13 years at 7½ per cent. interest including 3 year grace period. Further loan available from commercial banks, acting in conjunction with JDB, for 15 or 20 per cent. of contract over 8 years at 8½ per cent. interest. Supplementary provision in certain cases for interest subsidies of 2½ per cent. to 3½ per cent. Norway Nil 80 per cent. of contract price over 8½ years plus interest subsidy of up to 5½ per cent. Spain Up to 9½per cent. of contract price Home Credit Scheme. 85 per cent. over 12 years at 8 per cent. interest with up to 2 years grace period. (Smaller subsidy—70 per cent. of value at 8 per cent. for 5 years plus 1 year grace—available for conversions and major repair work.) Sweden Nil Credit guarantees of 90 per cent. of contract price for up to 15 years on commercial loans with 3 year grace priod on capital repayments. Interest rate subsidy about 2½per cent. available in certain cases. Department of Industry, London,
July 1982
Note:
* The 70 per cent. and 20 per cent. loans are available only for LNG carriers. Other types of vessel attract the lower percentages.
72W
Merchant Yards Naval Yards Japan Private Not significant South Korea Substantially private As merchant United States Private Private The available information indicates that merchant shipbuilding in each of these countries, whether ownership is in private or Government hands, qualifies for direct and/ or indirect state aids. The position as at July 1982 was as follows: