Cement

Gordon Banks
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what tonnage of bagged ordinary portland cement was imported into the UK in each quarter of each year since 2004; [R]

(2) what tonnage of bulk ordinary portland cement was imported into the UK in each quarter of each year since 2004. [R]

Margaret Hodge
Figures are not available separately for bagged and bulk portland cement. HM Revenue and Customs Overseas Trade Statistics give the following figures for imports of portland cement, whether or not coloured, in thousand tonnes.

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|                                 |Quarter|Weight (thousand tonnes)|
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|2004                             |Q1     |413                     |
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|                                 |Q2     |546                     |
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|                                 |Q3     |604                     |
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|                                 |Q4     |458                     |
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|                                 |       |                        |
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|2005                             |Q1     |509                     |
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|                                 |Q2     |403                     |
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|                                 |Q3     |376                     |
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|                                 |Q4     |289                     |
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|                                 |       |                        |
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|2006                             |Q1     |357                     |
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|                                 |Q2     |375                     |
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|                                 |Q3     |325                     |
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|                                 |Q4     |340                     |
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|Source:Overseas Trade Statistics.|       |                        |
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Gordon Banks
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what tonnage of bagged cement (with additives) was (a) produced in the UK and (b) imported into the UK in each quarter of each year since 2004;

(2) what tonnage of ordinary Portland cement was produced in the UK in each quarter of each year since 2004.

Margaret Hodge
The Office for National Statistics publishes annual figures for Product Sales and Trade: Cement (PRA 26510). Combining the figures for white and grey Portland cement gives the following volume data in million tonnes.

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|    |UK manufacturer sales|Total exports|Total imports|UK net supply|
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|2004|12.2                 |0.2          |2.0          |14.0         |
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|2005|12.1                 |0.3          |1.6          |13.3         |
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|2006|11.2                 |0.6          |1.4          |12.1         |
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