According to the statistics released by the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, in the first 11 months of 2011 France's total steel product exports amounted to €13.89 billion, up 13 percent year on year, while its basic steel product and ferroalloy exports amounted to a value of €9.76 billion, increasing by 11.08 percent year on year.
The cumulative value of France's steel product and ferroalloy exports has risen steadily since March 2010 on year-on-year basis. In the first 11 months of 2011, steel and ferroalloys ranked seventh among the most exported products of the country.
In the January-November period, France exported €2.2 billion of steel pipes and tubes - up 28.9 percent, €384.5 million of cold rolled steel bars - up 26.6 percent, €501.2 million of cold rolled steel strip - up 10.62 percent, €371.1 million of cold drawn wire - up 22.7 percent, and €664.2 million of metal structures and parts - down 9.5 percent, all compared to the same period of 2010.
Meanwhile, in the period in question France's basic steel product and ferroalloy imports totaled €9.9 billion, up 19.2 percent year on year.
During the given period, France imported €1.66 billion of steel pipes and tubes - up 17 percent, €435.4 million of cold rolled steel bars - up 26.7 percent, €617.5 million of cold rolled steel strip - up 18.2 percent, €413.2 million of cold drawn wire - up 19.7 percent, and €1.27 billion of metal structures and parts - up 3.65 percent, all compared to the same period of 2010.