According to the statistics released by the Italian steel producers' association Federacciai, in the first four months of 2010 Italy's steel product imports from countries outside the European Union (EU) reached 2.6 million metric tons, increasing by 13.6 percent, while its steel product exports excluding EU destinations totaled 1.76 million metric tons, up 16.8 percent, both compared to the corresponding period of 2009.
In the period in question, Italy's semi-finished steel product imports from non-EU member states reached 1.14 million metric tons, up 39 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the country's semi-finished steel product exports to non-EU countries amounted to 164,000 metric tons, up 60.8 percent year on year.
In the January-April period, Italy's imports of long products from non-EU countries decreased by 17.8 percent to 176,000 metric tons, while its long product exports to these countries totaled 471,000 metric tons, down 18.7 percent, both compared to January-April 2009.
On the other hand, during the given period, Italy's flat product imports from non-EU countries reached 1.16 million metric tons, up seven percent year on year, while its flat product exports to non-EU countries amounted to 668,000 metric tons, with a year-on-year increase of 89.2 percent.