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COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The UK is not rich in non-energy minerals, and most of the demand for industrial raw materials is met by imports. Minerals that [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The UK is not rich in non-energy minerals, and most of the demand for industrial raw materials is met by imports. Minerals that [...]

There is concern about the investments of Asian firms in the UK as a result of the Asian economic crisis. These include Hyundai's potential investment in Dunfermline, Scotland, and the continuing investment of Poong Jeon (South Korea), electronics company, at the former Manvers coalfield, South Yorkshire. Mining communities in South Yorkshire, where more pits are likely to be shut down, had had great faith in the future of Poong Jeon's UK subsidiary, PJ Electronics.

The privatisation of the coal industry has led to 31 pits closing by the end of 1992 and the loss of 30,000 mining jobs. Electricity generation by gas-powered plants is cheaper. The National Grid Company has received plans for 25 Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) projects, which will produce too much generating capacity. The market for coal for power generation is expected to fall from 65 million tonnes in 1992 to 40 million tonnes in 1996.

The British mining equipment industry is anxiously awaiting the announcement of new supply contracts between British Coal and the privatised power generating companies, and the Association of British Mining Equipment Companies (Abmec) is lobbying Parliament to try to ensure that the demand for coal is not, as is widely predicted, drastically reduced. The workforce at the 50 members of Abmec has already been cut by two-thirds since 1988 and a further decline in the British market would put the industry's profitable overseas trade at risk too.