According to the statistics released by the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, in the first nine months of the current year France's total steel product exports amounted to €11.23 billion, up 15.2 percent year on year, while its basic steel product and ferroalloy exports amounted to a value of €6.98 billion, increasing by 13.11 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 nine months of 2011, steel and ferroalloys ranked seventh among the most exported products of the country.
In the January-September period, France exported €1.77 billion of steel pipes and tubes - up 35.57 percent, €316.4 million of cold rolled steel bars - up 32.6 percent, €418 million of cold rolled steel strip - up 16.1 percent, €300.5 million of cold drawn wire - up 23.5 percent, and €545 million of metal structures and parts - down 10.7 percent, all compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, in the period in question France's basic steel product and ferroalloy imports totaled €8.31 billion, up 23.8 percent year on year.
During the given period, France imported €1.35 billion of steel pipes and tubes - up 17.86 percent, €360.5 million of cold rolled steel bars - up 36 percent, €519 million of cold rolled steel strip - up 22.88 percent, €344.8 million of cold drawn wire - up 24.17 percent, and €1.04 billion of metal structures and parts - up 5.42 percent, all compared to the same period last year.