FOI REF: FOI-2023-1544
You asked
I'm reaching out with the hope of obtaining detailed data on the charcoal industry in the UK. Specifically, I'm seeking the following:
1. Production: - Annual charcoal production volumes in the UK for the past 5 years. - Breakdown by type (e.g., lump charcoal, briquettes) if available. - Data on production methods and sources of raw materials, if possible.
2. Imports and Exports: - Annual volumes and values of charcoal imports and exports for the past 5 years. - Major source countries for imports and destinations for exports. - Tariffs or trade regulations, if any, pertaining to charcoal.
3. Consumption: - Annual domestic consumption volumes and values of charcoal, preferably segmented by usage (e.g., residential BBQ, commercial, industrial). - Any trends or factors influencing consumption, if available.
4. Future Projections: - If forecasts or projections are available for the above metrics, they would be invaluable for our analysis. I understand that some of this data might be confidential or not immediately available.
We said
Thank you for your request.
Unfortunately we do not hold data at the level you are requesting.
The Annual Purchases Survey information is collated for various energy categories as defined by the Statistical classification of products by activity (CPA) and published here as a matrix of which industry is consuming which product – as you can see from the “product codes” tab, this is not detailed enough to pick up information on the value of expenditure on charcoal
There are further series in the ONS environmental accounts (for example this table) but again, fuel type is not disaggregated enough to identify charcoal.
You may wish to contact the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to see if they hold any information at a lower level of fuel type. They can be contacted via the following email address: foi.requests@energysecurity.gov.uk.