asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will state the total value of the imports of raw materials in each of the months January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, 1931, and the average monthly value of such imports in each of the years 1929, 1930 and 1931.
Written Answers. - Imports of Raw Materials.
From the official trade statistics it is not possible to determine the main use of all commodities imported, i.e., whether (i) raw materials for agriculture or industry, (ii) capital goods, or (iii) consumption goods. Total imports of many specific commodities may be designed for more than one of these uses. From a scrutiny of the list of commodities as utilised for the monthly trade statistics, items have been selected which, according to their description, appear to be principally "raw materials." The following are the approximate aggregate monthly or monthly average values of such imports for the periods indicated:—
Value of Imports of Principal "Raw Materials."
|
Month—1931. |
|
|
January |
£1,332,000 |
|
February |
£1,481,000 |
|
March |
£1,954,000 |
|
April |
£1,475,000 |
|
May |
£1,532,000 |
|
June |
£1,618,000 |
|
July |
£1,769,000 |
|
August |
£1,493,000 |
|
September |
£1,396,000 |
|
October |
£1,713,000 |
|
November |
£1,412,000 |
|
December |
£1,492,000 |
|
Monthly average: |
|
|
1931 |
£1,556,000 |
|
1930 |
£1,868,000 |
|
1929 |
£2,101,000 |
These figures correspond to those given in No. 2 of the economic series published regularly in the Irish Trade Journal.