According to the French Steel Federation, crude steel production in France totaled 1.053 million mt in March 2009, up by 2.6 percent compared to the previous month, but down 36.7 percent year on year.
In the first quarter of 2009, French crude steel output amounted to 2.936 million mt, down 39.7 percent compared with the same period of last year.
Meanwhile, electric arc furnace (EAF) production in France declined by 10.3 percent to 454,000 mt in March 2009, while production in basic oxygen converters increased by 15.2 percent to 599,000 mt, both compared to February.
On the other hand, France's EAF production fell by 34.2 percent in the first quarter of 2009 to 1.381 million mt and basic oxygen steelmaking output fell by 43.9 percent to 1.555 million mt, compared to the first quarter of 2008.