Italy’s steel imports from non-EU countries rise 40 percent in Q1

According to the statistics released by the Italian steel producers' association Federacciai, in the first three months of the current year Italy's steel imports from non-European Union (EU) countries reached 2.63 million metric tons, increasing by 39.9 percent year on year, while its steel exports to these countries totaled 1.16 million metric tons, down 3.5 percent year on year.
 
In Q1 this year, Italy's semi-finished steel product imports from non-EU countries reached 865,000 metric tons, up 11.6 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the country's semi-finished steel product exports to non-EU destinations amounted to 46,000 metric tons, decreasing by 52.1 percent year on year.
 
In the given period, Italy's imports of long steel products from non-EU countries increased by 30.5 percent year on year to 184,000 metric tons, while its long steel product exports to these countries totaled 316,000 metric tons, up 1.3 percent, both year on year.
 
On the other hand, in the first three months of 2011 Italy's flat steel product imports from non-EU countries reached 1.46 million metric tons, up 70.4 percent as compared to January-March 2010, while its flat steel product exports to such destinations amounted to 410,000 metric tons, with a year-on-year decrease of 14.8 percent.

(*) Seamless pipes, welded pipes, forged bars, cold drawn sections and bars, drawn wire, cold rolled strips, welded sections, drawn wire.
 
(**) Flanges, pipe fittings, mining sections, diamond plates, pig iron powder
 
Figures in table are given in thousand metric tons.