§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the present condition of the domestic cement industry.
§ Mr. John PattenThe United Kingdom industry can meet domestic demand both in quantity and quality. Capacity in 1985 was 15.8 million tons, with usage running at 84 per cent. The quality of the ordinary Portland cement produced is higher than BS12. It is well able to compete with unsubsidised imports from the European Community.
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§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the turnover of the domestic cement industry and its total profits or losses in each year since 1980.
§ Mr. John PattenThe information for the United Kingdom is given in the following table. The profit figures are pre-tax and interest deductions.
£ million Turnover Profit £ £ 1980 537 55 1981 526 41 1982 590 55 1983 616 55 1984 632 37 1985 639 23
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the quantity and value of cement used in Britain annually and the respective percentages supplied by the domestic cement industry.
§ Mr. John PattenThe figures are as follows:
Total Consumption Domestic Share per cent. Volume Metric tones Value Volume Metric tones Value £ million £million 1980 14.2 537 99 99 1981 12.3 540 98 99 1982 13.0 604 98 98 1983 13.5 631 97 98 1984 13.8 643 96 97 1985 13.8 662 96 96