HC Deb 06 November 1996 vol 284 cc590-1W
Mr. Martyn Jones

To ask the President of the Board of trade what quantity of(a) paper and (b) pulp has been imported into the United Kingdom for each year since 1990; and what percentage these imports constitute of the total amount of paper and pulp used each year in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [2357]

Mr. Page

UK imports of paper and paperboard arid pulp, in metric tonnes, are given in the table.

Year Paper and paperboard Pulp
1990 5,698 2,058
1991 5,619 2,160
1992 5,976 2,159
1993 6,078 1,909
1994 6,864 2,054
1995 6,392 2,219

Source:

Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom, HM Customs and Excise.

Information on the quantity of UK manufacturers' sale of paper, paperboard and pulp are commercially confidential. It is therefore not possible to calculate the imports share of UK consumption.

Mr. Jones

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the countries from which the United Kingdom imports(a) paper and (b) pulp, stating for each the (i) tonnage and (ii) relative percentage of overall paper and pulp imports that it constitutes; and if he will make a statement. [2358]

Mr. Page

The information for 1995 is given in the following table. UK imports fell by 3.5 per cent. from their peak in 1994.

UK imports of paper and paperboard, and pulp: 1995
Country Paper and board (MT)1 Pulp (MT) Per cent, of total
Sweden 1,440,481 214,645 19.2
Finland 1,408,548 134,699 17.9
Canada 390,004 380,692 9.0
Germany 744,255 16,623 8.8
USA 285,782 459,624 8.7
France 512,179 82,210 6.9
Norway 467,976 113,610 6.8
Netherlands 331,519 55,072 4.5
Brazil 80,081 175,281 3.0
Spain 77,712 111,839 2.2
Portugal 48,690 119,276 2.0
Italy 128,798 2,863 1.5
Belgium-Luxembourg 100,422 16,342 1.4

UK imports of paper and paperboard, and pulp: 1995
Country Paper and board (MT)1 Pulp (MT) Per cent, of total
Austria 108,421 7,262 1.3
Chile 1,273 110,463 1.3
Russia 49,694 53,269 1.2
South Africa 9,465 84,149 1.1
Irish Republic 48,647 37,735 1.0
Denmark 38,176 113 0.4
Poland 31,727 0 0.4
Rest of the World 87,755 43,664 1.5
World total 6,391,606 2,219,432 100.0

Notes:

1Metric tonnes.

Pulp defined as division 25 of the Standard International Trade Classification, Revision 3 (SITC3).

Paper and paperboard defined as heading 641 of SITC3.

Source:

Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom, HM Custom and Excise.