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27 Oct 2003 : Column 13W—continued

Iran

Mr. McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the value of export credits for Iran has been in each year since 1996; and what the main trade products between Iran and the UK have been. [132924]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: 1. The Value of export credits for Iran since 1996 is as follows:

	Value of Export Credits
	£ thousand
1996	0
1997	0
1998	150
1999	0
2000	0
2001	38,217
2002	75,692
2003	83,203

2. The main trade products between Iran and the UK up to 2002 are as follows:

UK trade in goods with Iran, 1996–2002Main products UK Exports *SITC

1996 Division Product		Value£ million
1	74 General industrial machinery & machine parts *nes	65.6
2	78 Road vehicles (including air-cushion vehicles)	40.6
3	72 Machinery specialised for particular industries	37.9
4	59 Chemical materials and products nes	33.7
5	71 Power generating machinery and equipment	26.1
	Total Exports (incl. top five exports as listed above)		396.6

1997 Division Product		Value£ million
1	74 General industrial machinery & machine parts nes	64.7
2	71 Power generating machinery and equipment	55.9
3	72 Machinery specialised for particular industries	36.3
4	59 Chemical materials and products nes	33.5
5	87 Professional, scientific and controlling instruments nes	31.2
	Total Exports (incl. top five exports as listed above)		402.6

1998 Division Product		Value£ million
1	71 Power generating machinery and equipment	58.9
2	74 General industrial machinery & machine parts nes	54.2
3	59 Chemical materials and products nes	34.1
4	78 Road vehicles (including air-cushion vehicles)	30.0
5	72 Machinery specialised for particular industries	27.0
	Total Exports (incl. top five exports as listed above)		330.9

27 Oct 2003 : Column 14W

1999 Division Product		Value£ million
1	74 General industrial machinery & machine parts nes	43.3
2	71 Power generating machinery and equipment	27.2
3	59 Chemical materials and products nes	23.2
4	72 Machinery specialised for particular industries	20.3
5	77 Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances nes	19.3
	Total Exports (incl. top five exports as listed above)		244.9

2000 Division Product		Value£ million
1	74 General industrial machinery & machine parts nes	62.4
2	72 Machinery specialised for particular industries	36.7
3	71 Power generating machinery and equipment	34.9
4	87 Professional, scientific and controlling instruments nes	22.9
5	78 Road vehicles (including air-cushion vehicles)	19.1
	Total Exports (incl. top five exports as listed above)		296.1

2001 Division Product		Value£ million
1	74 General industrial machinery & machine parts nes	95.5
2	71 Power generating machinery and equipment	67.1
3	72 Machinery specialised for particular industries	44.5
4	87 Professional, scientific and controlling instruments nes	35.2
5	54 Medical and pharmaceutical products	23.9
	Total Exports (incl. top five exports as listed above)		430.8

2002 Division Product		Value£ million
1	74 General industrial machinery & machine parts nes	71.7
2	71 Power generating machinery and equipment	66.7
3	72 Machinery specialised for particular industries	56.8
4	87 Professional, scientific and controlling industruments nes	40.0
5	54 Medical and pharmaceutical products	22.6
	Total Imports (incl. top five imports as listed above)		401.7

1996 Division Product		Value£ million
1	33 Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials	86.3
2	65 Textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles nes and related products	9.9
3	05 Vegetables and fruit	7.2
	Fish (not marine mammals), crustaceans, molluscs and aq
4	03 invertebrates etc.	2.8
5	28 Metalliferous ores & metal scrap	2.5
	Total Imports (incl. top five imports as listed above)		118.8

27 Oct 2003 : Column 15W

1997 Division Product		Value£ million
1	65 Textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles nes and related products	9.9
2	67 Iron & steel	6.2
3	05 Vegetables and fruit	5.3
4	28 Metalliferous ores & metal scrap	2.4
5	26 Textile fibres (and their wastes)	1.5
	Total Imports (incl. top five imports as listed above)		36.2

1998 Division Product		Value£ million
1	65 Textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles nes and related products	7.8
2	05 Vegetables and fruit	4.3
3	67 Iron & steel	3.2
4	33 Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials	3.0
5	71 Power generating machinery and equipment	2.9
	Total Imports (incl. top five imports as listed above)		36.1

1999 Division Product		Value£ million
1	05 Vegetables and fruit	9.6
2	65 Textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles nes and related products	7.3
3	72 Machinery specialised for particular industries	2.4
4	69 Manufactures of metal nes	2.1
	Fish (not marine mammals), crustaceans, molluscs and aq
5	03 invertebrates etc	2.0
	Total Imports (incl. top five imports as listed above)		36.5

2000 Division Product		Value£ million
1	65 Textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles nes and related products	7.7
2	05 Vegetables and fruit	4.3
3	69 Manufactures of metal nes	3.0
4	71 Power generating machinery and equipment	2.4
5	91 Postal packages not classified according to kind	2.2
	Total Imports (incl. top five imports as listed above)		33.2

2001 Division Product		Value£ million
1	65 Textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles nes and related products	6.1
2	05 Vegetables and fruit	5.5
3	91 Postal packages not classified according to kind	3.0
4	66 Non-metallic mineral manufactures nes	2.4
5	71 Power generating machinery and equipment	2.0
	Total Imports (incl. top five imports as listed above)		29.6

2002 Division Product		Value£ million
1	65 Textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles nes and related products	6.0
2	05 Vegetables and fruit	5.2
3	71 Power generating machinery and equipment	3.9
4	91 Postal packages not classified according to kind	3.4
5	67 Iron & steel	2.5
	Total Imports (incl. top five imports as listed above)		35.9

Note:

The main products are defined in terms of Divisions of the Standard International Trade

Classification (*SITC), Revision 3.

*nes = not elsewhere specified

Source:

DTI analysis of data published by HM Customs and Excise

27 Oct 2003 : Column 16W

Manufacturing

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assistance her Department provides to manufacturing companies in the UK to improve export levels; and if she will make a statement on the importance of (a) manufacturing exports and (b) export credit guarantees to the UK economy. [133137]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: British Trade International, a joint DTI and FCO operation, provides a range of information, advice and support to enable potential and existing exporters, including manufacturers, to raise their productivity and competitiveness levels by trading internationally.

Manufacturing exports are a crucial part of the UK's prosperity. Manufacturing accounts for the majority of our exports and makes a substantial contribution to the balance of payments.

ECGD provides guarantees, insurance and reinsurance against loss to UK exporters and investors in overseas markets. During 2002/03, the total amount of business supported by ECGD was £3.5 billion.

Oil Stocks

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans the EU has to share oil stocks in the event of an oil crisis. [134317]

Mr. Timms: The UK is required as a member state of the European Union to hold emergency oil stocks equal to 67.5 days' consumption, and as a member of the International Energy Agency (IEA) to take part in any collective response to a major international supply disruption.

Under the legislation governing the EU stock-holding obligations, if difficulties arise with regard to EU oil supplies the European Commission will arrange a consultation between member states. However, any response to disruption, including sharing arrangements, is a matter for member states, acting as members of the IEA. The European Commission made a proposal last year to increase its own role. This proposal was opposed by member states at the Energy Council in May 2003, and by the European Parliament at a plenary session in September 2003.

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