According to the statistics released by the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, in the first 10 months of the current year France's total steel product exports amounted to €11.25 billion, up 14.9 percent year on year, while its basic steel product and ferroalloy exports amounted to a value of €8.84 billion, increasing by 12.9 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 10 months of 2011, steel and ferroalloys ranked seventh among the most exported products of the country.
In the January-October period, France exported €2 billion of steel pipes and tubes - up 33.5 percent, €350.5 million of cold rolled steel bars - up 29.3 percent, €459.2 million of cold rolled steel strip - up 12.3 percent, €337.5 million of cold drawn wire - up 24.2 percent, and €607.9 million of metal structures and parts - down 9.75 percent, all compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, in the period in question France's basic steel product and ferroalloy imports totaled €9.1 billion, up 21.9 percent year on year.
During the given period, France imported €1.5 billion of steel pipes and tubes - up 17.8 percent, €340 million of cold rolled steel bars - up 31 percent, €568 million of cold rolled steel strip - up 20 percent, €380 million of cold drawn wire - up 22.8 percent, and €1.16 billion of metal structures and parts - up 4.6 percent, all compared to the same period last year.