According to the statistics released by the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, in August France's total exports amounted to €27.74 billion, decreasing by 19.48 percent year on year and down 9.12 percent over July, while the country's total imports declined by 22.31 percent compared to August 2008 and were down 1.23 percent month on month to €31.15 billion. Thus, during the given month, France's trade deficit totaled €3.4 billion.
In the January-August period of 2009, France's basic steel product and ferroalloy exports amounted to €4.82 billion, down 41.07 percent year on year. During the period in question France exported €1.31 billion of steel pipes and tubes - down 34.16 percent, €135.3 million of cold drawn steel bars - down 58.54 percent, €280.93 million of cold rolled steel strip - down 46.99 percent, €146 million of cold drawn wire - down 44.22 percent, €466 million of metal structures and parts - down 15.27 percent, all compared to the corresponding period of 2008.
Meanwhile, in the first eight months of this year, France's basic steel product and ferroalloy imports totaled €4.34 billion, down 49.87 percent year on year. During the period in question, France imported €839 million of steel pipes and tubes - down 35.31 percent, €157 million of cold drawn steel bars - down 53.15 percent, €271 million of cold rolled steel strip - down 40.71 percent, €195 million of cold drawn wire - down 47.95 percent, and €722 million of metal structures and parts - down 26.78 percent, all compared to the corresponding period of 2008.