According to the statistics released by the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, in the first eight months of 2010 France's basic steel product and ferroalloy exports amounted to a value of €6.16 billion, increasing by 24.49 percent year on year.
In the January-August period of this year, France exported €1.17 billion of steel pipes and tubes - down 10.81 percent, €206.43 million of cold rolled steel bars - up 52.4 percent, €315.71 million of cold rolled steel strip - up 12 percent, €209.89 million of cold drawn wire - up 43.27 percent, €544.96 million of metal structures and parts - up 16.24 percent, all compared to January-August 2009.
Meanwhile, in the period in question France's basic steel product and ferroalloy imports totaled €5.88 billion, up 34.63 percent year on year.
During the given period, France imported €975.1 million of steel pipes and tubes - up 14.89 percent, €218.31 million of cold rolled steel bars - up 37.91 percent, €362.16 million of cold rolled steel strip - up 32.52 percent, €240.95 million of cold drawn wire - up 21.64 percent, and €845.07 million of metal structures and parts - up 14.32 percent, all compared to the first eight months of the previous year.