asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is Great Britain's current level of consumption of, respectively, iron, lead, tungsten, copper, potassium, sulphur, phosphorus, aluminium, chromium, manganese, nickel, tin and zinc ; what percentage of this consumption is, respectively, imported and indigenous; and what, from information available, are the comparable figures for USA, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium. Japan and South Africa.
The information for six non-ferrous metals is shown in the table below.United Kingdom consumption of pig iron in 1972 was 15·6 million metric tons, less than 2 per cent. of which was imported.United Kingdom consumption of sulphur in all forms in 1972 was 1,203·5
| CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION OF SELECTED COMMODITIES, 1972 | ||||||
| Refined Lead | Refined Copper | |||||
| Consumption (thousand metrictons) | Indigenous production as percentage of consumption | Consumption (thousand metrictons) | Indigenous production as percentage of consumption | |||
| United Kingdom | … | … | 278 | 97 | 525 | 34 |
| USA | … | … | 983 | 77 | 2,027 | 101 |
| France | … | … | 202 | 93 | 390 | 8 |
| Germany, Federal Republic | … | … | 274 | 100 | 672 | 59 |
| Italy | … | … | 186 | 37 | 283 | 3 |
| Netherlands | … | … | 41 | 59 | 37 | — |
| Belgium | … | … | 48 | 193 | 153 | 205 |
| Japan | … | … | 231 | 97 | 954 | 85 |
| South Africa (including South West Africa) | … | … | 26 | 253 | 47 | 167 |
| Primary Aluminium | Nickel | |||||
| Consumption (thousand metrictons) | Indigenous production as percentage of consumption | Consumption (thousand metrictons) | Indigenous production as percentage of consumption | |||
| United Kingdom | … | … | 410 | 42 | 30 | 106 |
| USA | … | … | 4,296 | 87 | 145 | 11 |
| France | … | … | 398 | 99 | 38 | 35 |
| Germany, Federal Republic | … | … | 724 | 61 | 43 | — |
| Italy | … | … | 304 | 49 | 21 | — |
| Netherlands | … | … | 79 | 205 | 1 | — |
| Belgium | … | … | 201 | — | 3 | — |
| Japan | … | … | 1,193 | 85 | 83 | 95 |
| South Africa (including South West Africa) | … | … | 60 | 88 | N.A. | N.A. |
| Refined Tin | Slab Zinc | |||||
| Consumption (thousand metrictons) | Indigenous production as percentage of consumption | Consumption (thousand metrictons) | Indigenous production as percentage of consumption | |||
| United Kingdom | … | … | 18 | 147 | 277 | 27 |
| USA | … | … | 57 | 12 | 1,286 | 50 |
| France | … | … | 11 | — | 264 | 100 |
| Germany, Federal Republic | … | … | 16 | 15 | 413 | 87 |
| Italy | … | … | 8 | — | 203 | 77 |
| Netherlands | … | … | 5 | — | 37 | 130 |
| Belgium | … | … | 4 | 91 | 139 | 183 |
| Japan | … | … | 33 | 5 | 660 | 122 |
| South Africa (including South West Africa) | … | … | 2 | 67 | 55 | 86 |
| * Including refined nickel, the nickel content of ferro-nickel oxide and nickel fonte. | ||||||
| †United Kingdom consumption of refined nickel only. | ||||||
Source: World Metal Statistics.