§ Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the total production of coal in the United Kingdom from(a) deep mines (b) opencast mining for each quarter since the first quarter of 1992; and what forecasts relating to production his Department has evaluated. [877]
§ Mr. PageThe information requested is given as follows:
114W
"UK coal production: deep-mined Thousand tones 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 Quarter 1 18,404 15,515 8,870 8,397 9,006 Quarter 2 16,484 11,852 7,734 8,637 8,721
UK coal production: deep-mined Thousand tonnes 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 15 129 11,527 7,290 8,674 — Quarter 4 15,783 11,563 7,960 9,442 — Total 65,800 50,457 31,854 35,150 —
UK coal production: opencast Thousand tonnes 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 Quarter 1 4,819 4,475 3,693 3,938 4,319 Quarter 2 4,743 4,053 4,114 4,173 4,021 Quarter 3 4,242 4,073 4,329 4,070 — Quarter 4 4,384 4,406 4,669 4,188 — Total 18,187 17,006 16,804 16,369 — Source:
Energy Trends.
The Department of Trade and Industry does not make forecasts of coal production. However, Energy Paper 65, "Energy Projections for the UK" which was published by my Department in March 1995, suggested that by the year 2000 solid fuel demand would be around half its 1990 level. Although the report did not split this demand between imports and domestic production, most of the demand is expected to be met by domestic production.