According to the statistics released by the Italian steel producers' association Federacciai, in the first two months of 2010 Italy's steel product imports from countries outside the European Union (EU) reached 1.1 million metric tons, increasing by 2.1 percent, while its steel product exports excluding EU destinations totaled 757,000 metric tons, up 24.1 percent, both compared to the corresponding period of 2009.
In the period in question, Italy's semi-finished steel imports from non-EU member states reached 404,000 metric tons, down 1.7 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the country's semi-finished steel exports to non-EU countries amounted to 63,000 metric tons, up 23.5 percent year on year.
In the first two months of the year, Italy's imports of long products from non-EU countries decreased by 40.3 percent to 83,000 metric tons, while its long product exports to these countries totaled 199,000 metric tons, down 6.6 percent, both compared to January-February 2009.
On the other hand, during the given period, Italy's flat product imports from non-EU countries reached 546,000 metric tons, up 27 percent year on year, while its flat product exports to non-EU countries amounted to 300,000 metric tons, with a year-on-year increase of 115.8 percent.