Welsh Journals

THE RISE AND DECLINE OF SOUTH WALES COAL EXPORTS, 1870-1930* THIS article focusses on the history of Welsh coal exports and seeks to substantiate two points. First, that technical change at sea was the principal demand factor accounting for the pre-eminence of south Wales as a coal- exporting region. Second, that in addition to their direct impact on the Welsh economy, coal shipments from the Bristol Channel ports played a crucial role in maintaining the maritime and commercial supremacy of the United Kingdom during the decades immediately prior to the First World War. The Growth of Welsh Coal Exports The rise of south Wales to a commanding position in the international coal trade was one of the more notable trends in the British economy during the latter half of the nineteenth century. As is evident from Table 1, after 1850 the Bristol Channel ports became an increasingly important element in the export of coal. TABLE 1 Coal Exports from the Bristol Channel Ports, 1850-1890t Total Exports (millions of tons) Percentage of Total U.K. Coal Exports 1850 0.4 13.3 1860 1.7 24.4 1870 3.5 31.2 1880 6.9 39.0 1890 12.5 43.6 Source: D. A. Thomas, 'The Growth and Direction of our Foreign Trade in Coal During the Last Half Century', Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, LXIV (1903), 498 and 509. Note: t Exports from non-Welsh ports were insignificant. Welsh exports of steam coal commenced in the late 1830s, at a time of growing demand from transport and industry for steam-raising fuel. Cardiff quickly emerged as the focal port for the trade, which required efficient I am grateful to Dr. Cliff Gulvin, Mr. Peter Stead and to the editor, Dr. K. O. Morgan, for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.