In June this year, French crude steel production amounted to 1,457,400 metric tons, increasing by 31.4 percent year on year and down 7.4 percent as compared to May this year, according to the data provided by the French Steel Federation (FFA). In May, crude steel production in France had increased by 8.58 percent month on month.
In the given month, steel production in France using electric arc furnaces (EAF) rose 7.7 percent year on year, reaching 525,000 metric tons, down 3.14 percent month on month, while steel production with blast furnace (BF) technology totaled 932,400 metric tons, climbing by 50 percent year on year and down 9.64 percent as compared to May.
Meanwhile, in the first half of 2010, crude steel production in France stood at 8.22 million metric tons, increasing by 40.3 percent as compared with the corresponding period of 2009. In the period in question, production using EAFs increased by 3.6 percent, while BF steel production rose 73.7 percent, reaching 2,895,900 metric tons and 5,324,300 metric tons respectively, both compared to January-June 2009.
The FFA also noted that domestic crude steel production in June was 18.3 percent lower than in June 2008 and that crude steel production in the first six months of the year was 17.8 percent below the January-June 2008 production figures.