According to the statistics released by the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, in the first five months of 2010 France's basic steel product and ferroalloy exports amounted to a value of €3.87 billion, increasing by 26.88 percent year on year.
In the given period, steel and ferroalloys ranked eighth among the most exported products of the country.
In the January-May period of this year, France exported €718.11 million of steel pipes and tubes - down 18.78 percent, €125.85 million of cold rolled steel bars - up 31.52 percent, €196.54 million of cold rolled steel strip - up 3.91 percent, €130.61 million of cold drawn wire - up 37.29 percent, €317.99 million of metal structures and parts - up 12.02 percent, all compared to January-May 2009.
Meanwhile, in the period in question France's basic steel product and ferroalloy imports totaled €3.74 billion, up 29.37 percent year on year.
During the given period, France imported €576.18 million of steel pipes and tubes - up 0.97 percent, €133.8 million of cold rolled steel bars - up 19.24 percent, €221.97 million of cold rolled steel strip - up 24.21 percent, €151.87 million of cold drawn wire - up 16.33 percent, and €503.61 million of metal structures and parts - up 8.59 percent, all compared to the first five months of the previous year.