asked the Minister for Finance if he will state whether any application has been made during the present year by coal importers for authority to purchase coal in the U.S.A.; and, if so, whether any such application has been granted and if not, why not, and if he will further state the estimated current c.i.f. cost of domestic coal imported from the U.S.A.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Purchase of American Coal.
Applications have been received from a number of coal importers for permission to purchase coal of U.S.A. origin. No dollars have been provided in respect of any of these applications. U.S.A. is not a normal source of supply for coal and accordingly no provision was made for coal imports in the programming of dollar expenditures for the present year. The available dollars have already been committed for imports of essential commodities such as grains, raw sugar, tobacco, petrol and machinery. The dollar cost of any substantial purchase of coal from U.S.A. would be considerable and could not be contemplated until it is beyond doubt that such expenditure is unavoidable. Some success has attended efforts to secure supplies from the continent and efforts are also being made to secure an improvement in deliveries from Britain. The position is being kept constantly under review.
I have no precise information as to what the current c.i.f. cost of domestic coal imported from the U.S.A. would be. The tentative information furnished by coal importers in connection with their applications suggests that the c.i.f. cost would range from 107/- to 121/- per ton, but I cannot say how the quality of this coal would compare with that of coal imported from other sources.