HL Deb 17 December 1984 vol 458 c523WA
Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their forecast for demand by United Kingdom for:

  1. (a) manganese;
  2. (b) nickel;
  3. (c) copper;
  4. (d) cobalt,
in the next five, 10, 20, and 30 years, taking into account all possibilities for substitution.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Lucas of Chilworth)

No official forecasts of future United Kingdom demand for manganese, nickel, copper and cobalt are produced. However, our advice on possible trends in mineral consumption and estimates of changes in demand between now and the end of the century, which must necessarily be tentative, is as follows:

Nickel: possible increase in demand of 1% pa;
Copper: possible decline in demand of 0.5% pa in the early part of the period then stabilising at the lower level;
Manganese and Cobalt: no significant change.

It would not be realistic to attempt to forecast levels of demand beyond the turn of the century.