Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will publish a breakdown of the (a) destination, (b) use, (c) type of product and (d) volume of Welsh steel exports in each year between 2010 and 2021.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are responsible for the collection and publication of data on UK imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC release this information monthly, as a National Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com).

Unfortunately the data collected does not enable HMRC to specifically identify ‘Welsh steel’. However, HMRC are able to provide data on steel products allocated to Wales under their Regional Trade in Goods Statistics (RTS) methodology.

The resultant data can be viewed via: https://www.uktradeinfo.com/trade-data/rts-custom-table/?id=069c86fb-747d-4420-8124-0fddc365a663.

Notes:

1. The RTS data provides a breakdown of imports and exports by regions of the UK, to other countries. Trade for an individual business is allocated to a region based on the proportion of its employees employed in that region. For that reason it is possible that trade in steel by businesses considered to be based in Wales, may appear in the RTS under other regions of the UK other than Wales (or vice-versa). A full description of how UK trade is allocated to a region can be found in the RTS Methodology paper: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/697012/RTS_Methodology_Revision.pdf.
2. The RTS uses the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) which classifies goods more broadly. Steel exports have been defined here as ‘SITC 67 – Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material, Iron and Steel’.
3. RTS data only describes the physical movement of goods between regions of the UK and other countries (not between the UK regions themselves).

HMRC’s RTS methodology was significantly changed to improve the allocation of region to a business. This affected data from 2013. Consequently, data for the period 2010 to 2012 is not comparable and so has not been provided.

HMRC trade statistics data does not provide any commentary on the ‘use’ of the exported items.