asked the Secretary of State for Industry what was the United Kingdom output of steel in volume and in value in each of the last five years and in each of the last 18 months for which figures are available.
Volume figures through February 1975 are contained in "Annual Statistics" and "Monthly Statistics" of the Iron and Steel Industry, copies of which are available in the Library of the House. Weekly average United Kingdom crude steel production in March and April 1975 was 494·7 thousand and 429·5 thousand tonnes respectively. Monthly value figures and value figures for 1969 are not available. Annual value figures of sales by the industry for 1968 and 1970 through 1973 are contained in reports on the Census of Production, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
asked the Secretary of State for Industry what was the amount of Government money, in cash grants and in loans, given to the steel industry in each of the last five years, and in the current year until the latest available date for which figures are available.
Comprehensive data for the steel industry are not readily available. The following table gives grants authorised for the British Steel Corporation and loans drawn by it from the National Loan Fund in the last five financial years. Figures for 1974–75 are provisional.
| Grants Authorised | Net Drawings from the National Loan Fund | ||
| £m. | £m. | ||
| 1970–71 | … | 27·9 | 58·3 |
| 1971–72 | … | 12·3 | 129·5 |
| 1972–73 | … | 44·0 | 142·9 |
| 1973–74 | … | 30·8 | 3·0* |
| 1974–75 | … | 39·1 | 83·2* |
| * Net repayment. | |||
| Undertaking | Accounting period Year ending: | Profit or Loss before taxation and extraordinary items | |
| £ | |||
| Appledore Shipbuilders Limited | 30th September 1974 | … | +303,447 |
| British Steel Corporation | 31st March 1974 | … | +98,000,000 |
| Cable & Wireless Limited | 31st March 1974 | … | +15,047,000 |
| Cammell Laird Shipbuilders Limited (50 per cent. holdings) | 31st December 1974 | … | +1,108,143 |
| Govan Shipbuilders Limited | 27th December 1974 | … | -5,317,000 |
| Rolls Royce (1971) Limited | 31st December 1973 | … | +22,847,000 |
| Sunderland Shipbuilders Limited | 30th September 1973 | … | -179,000 |
| The Post Office | 31st March 1974 | … | +101,914,000 |