According to the statistics released by the Italian steel producers' association Federacciai, in the first two months of 2010 Italy's steel product imports reached 2.42 million metric tons, increasing by 16.7 percent, while its steel product exports totaled 2.37 million metric tons, up 19.8 percent, both compared to January-February 2009.
In the period in question, Italy's semi-finished steel product imports reached 458,000 metric tons, down 7.8 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the country's semi-finished steel product exports amounted to 147,000 metric tons, up 58.1 percent year on year.
In January-February this year, Italy's imports of long products decreased by six percent to 320,000 metric tons, while its long product exports totaled 486,000 metric tons, down 10.7 percent, both year on year.
On the other hand, during the given period, Italy's flat product imports reached 1.45 million metric tons, up 41 percent year on year, while its flat product exports amounted to 1 million metric tons, with a year-on-year increase of 43 percent.