HC Deb 28 June 1994 vol 245 c463W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimate he has made as to the adequacy of the supply of home-produced or imported pulp and paper for packaging and production; and if he will publish a table showing(a) United Kingdom production, imports and net home disposals of pulp and paper by end-use in each month this year to date compared to 1989, (b) the rate of return on capital required to make it profitable for United Kingdom pulp and paper manufacturers to invest in new capacity in the United Kingdom at current rates of exchange and (c) the actual rates of return on replacement and historic cost in 1993.

Mr. McLoughlin

Estimates of the supply of pulp and paper for packaging and production are a matter for industry. Official statistics on manufacturers sales, imports and exports are published annually by the Central Statistical Office in Business Monitor PAS4710. Copies of this publication are available in the Library of the House. There are no official data on rates of return, but information may be available from commercial organisations which analyse company accounts.