According to the statistics released by the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, in the first 10 months of this year France's basic steel product and ferroalloy exports amounted to a value of €8.6 billion, recording a decrease of 2.1 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.
France's steel product and ferroalloy exports had been rising steadily on year-on-year basis each month since March 2010, before trending stable in June and July and switching to a downtrend since August. In the first 10 months of 2012, steel and ferroalloys ranked eighth among the most exported products of the country.
During the period in question, France exported €1.8 billion of steel pipes and tubes - down 9.3 percent, €406 million of cold rolled steel strip - down 11.7 percent, €325 million of cold rolled steel bars - down 7.4 percent, €337 million of cold drawn wire - down 0.2 percent, €563.6 million of metal structures and parts - down 7.4 percent, all compared to the first 10 months of 2011.
Meanwhile, in the January-October period of this year France's basic steel product and ferroalloy imports totaled €7.7 billion, down 14.6 percent year on year.
During the given period, France imported €1.43 billion of steel pipes and tubes - down 7.2 percent, €490 million of cold rolled steel strip - down 15.2 percent, €366 million of cold rolled steel bars - down 14.2 percent, €316.7 million of cold drawn wire - down 17.5 percent, and €1.15 billion of metal structures and parts - down 5.1 percent, all compared to the same period of the previous year.