Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the average cost of British Coal's production in each year since 1985 in 1992 prices.
§ Mr. EggarInformation on British Coal's production costs are published in British Coal Corporation's report and accounts. Figures in 1992 prices are as follows:
Financial year Cost per tonne2 Deep-mined Opencast 11985–86 66.95 40.85 1986–87 57.52 37.48 1987–88 56.07 35.70 1988–89 48.91 33.75 1989–90 50.59 33.99 1990–91 45.45 35.09 31991–92 42.13 33.99 1 Figures for 1985–86 exclude release of 1984–85 provisions for strike recovery costs. 2 Cash figures adjusted to 1992 price levels by excluding the effect of general inflation as measured by the GDP deflator. 3 The GDP deflator for 1992 has been estimated.
Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the estimated percentage market share of British Coal in(a) the industrial steam coal market, (b) the domestic coal market, and (c) the market for electricity generation in Britain during 1992.
§ Mr. EggarBritish Coal's percentage shares of the respective coal markets during 1992 are estimated at 85 per cent. for electricity generation, 45 per cent. for industrial steam coal and 75 per cent. for domestic coal.
Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how much coal has been produced by the private sector of(a) opencast and (b) deep mined, annually since 1987; and what proportion of private sector production was sold to (i) the power generators, (ii) industrial users, (iii) the domestic home market and (iv) abroad.
§ Mr. EggarThe amount of opencast and deep-mined coal produced by private sector licensed mines since 1987 was:
635W
Thousand tonnes Opencast Deep mined 1987 1,155 855 1988 1,130 875 1989 1,093 1,013 1990 1,109 1,006 1991 1,987 1,102 11992 2,592 1,099 1 Provisional. About a tenth of this coal is sold back to British Coal, while most of the remainder is sold for power generation. Small amounts are also sold to domestic and industrial users or exported.
Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total tonnage of coal used for electricity generation in Britain in each year since 1987; and how much of this was obtained from(a) opencast coal mining, (b) Britain's deep mines and (c) imports of foreign coal.
§ Mr. EggarThe amounts of coal used for electricity generation from 1987 were:
Million tonnes Major generating companies Other generating companies1 Overall total Open-cast Deep mined Imports Total 1987 12.2 67.8 1.4 81.4 6.6 88.0 1988 10.2 65.2 2.0 77.4 6.9 84.2 1989 10.0 65.3 2.0 77.3 5.3 82.6 1990 11.3 62.4 4.7 78.4 6.1 84.5 1991 11.9 61.9 7.3 81.1 2.9 84.0 19922 10.3 57.1 7.6 75.0 4.0 79.0 1 Information on the source of coal used by other generating companies is not collected centrally. 2 Provisional.
Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the annual change in labour productivity, output per man shift, in British Coal's deep mine pits since 1985.
§ Mr. EggarThe annual change in labour productivity, as measured by average output per man shift worked, in British Coal's deep mines since 1985 are as follows:
Percentage change over previous year Output per manshift, tonnes 1985 11 2.49 1986 27 3.15 1987 14 3.59 1988 11 3.97 1989 9 4.33 1990 5 4.53 1991 13 5.11 11992 18 6.01 1 Provisional. Source: Table 7 in Energy Trends.