According to the statistics released by the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, in the first quarter of 2010
France's basic steel product and ferroalloy exports amounted to a value of €2.17 billion, increasing by 11.17 percent year on year.
In the given period, steel and ferroalloys ranked eighth among the most exported products of the country.
In the first three months of this year,
France exported €434.16 million of steel pipes and tubes - down 20.83 percent, €70 million of cold rolled steel bars - up 13.42 percent, €115.5 million of cold rolled steel strip - down 5.07 percent, €72.8 million of cold drawn
wire - up 12.33 percent, €170.6 million of metal structures and parts - up 5.11 percent, all compared to January-March 2009.
Meanwhile, in the period in question
France's basic steel product and ferroalloy imports totaled €2.17 billion, up 14.91 percent year on year.
During the given period,
France imported €321.17 million of steel pipes and tubes - down 7.63 percent, €72.24 million of cold rolled steel bars - down 8.71 percent, €132.74 million of cold rolled steel strip - up 17.09 percent, €86.39 million of cold drawn
wire - up 5.53 percent, and €278.09 million of metal structures and parts - up 0.88 percent, all compared to the first quarter of the previous year.