According to the statistics released by the Italian steel producers' association Federacciai, in the first five months of 2010 Italy's steel product imports reached 7.01 million metric tons, increasing by 32 percent, while its steel product exports totaled 6.57 million metric tons, up 27.5 percent, both compared to January-May 2009.
In the period in question, Italy's semi-finished steel product imports reached 1.67 million metric tons, up 44.9 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the country's semi-finished steel product exports amounted to 440,000 metric tons, up 126.8 percent year on year.
In January-May 2010 Italy's imports of long steel products increased by 34.7 percent to 924,000 metric tons, while its long steel product exports totaled 1.4 million metric tons, down 1.6 percent, both year on year.
On the other hand, during the first five months of 2010, Italy's flat steel product imports reached 3.87 million metric tons, up 31.5 percent year on year, while its flat steel product exports amounted to 2.72 million metric tons, with a year-on-year increase of 44.9 percent.