In January this year, French crude steel production amounted to 1,222,900 metric tons, increasing by 7.6 percent year on year and 8.6 percent as compared to the 1,126,400 mt output in December 2010, according to the data provided by the French Steel Federation (FFA). In December 2010, crude steel production in France had increased by 2.2 percent year on year.
In the given month, steel production in France using electric arc furnaces (EAF) rose 21.1 percent year on year, reaching 437,350 metric tons, while steel production with blast furnace (BF) technology totaled 747,550 metric tons, up by 0.6 percent year on year.
The FFA also noted that domestic crude steel production in January was 24 percent below the January 2008 production figure.