In May this year, French crude steel production amounted to 1,458,100 metric tons, decreasing by 7.3 percent year on year but up 0.87 percent as compared to April this year, according to the data provided by the French Steel Federation (FFA).
In May, steel production in France using electric arc furnaces (EAF) rose 9.6 percent year on year, reaching 593,400 metric tons, while steel production with blast furnace (BF) technology totaled 864,700 metric tons, declining by 16.2 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, in the first five months of 2011, crude steel production in France stood at 6,742,200 metric tons, decreasing by 0.3 percent year on year. In the period in question, production using EAFs increased by 13 percent, while BF steel production fell 7.5 percent, reaching 2,979,800 metric tons and 4,062,400 metric tons respectively, both compared to January-May 2010.
The FFA also noted that domestic crude steel production in May this year was 13.7 percent lower than in May 2008 and that crude steel production in the first five months of the year was 18 percent below the January-May 2008 production figures.