According to the statistics released by the Italian steel producers' association Federacciai, in the first three months of 2010 Italy's steel product imports from countries outside the European Union (EU) reached 1.86 million metric tons, increasing by 7.1 percent, while its steel product exports excluding EU destinations totaled 1.21 million metric tons, up 8.5 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 774,000 metric tons, up 18.9 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the country's semi-finished steel product exports to non-EU countries amounted to 97,000 metric tons, up 10.2 percent year on year.
In the first quarter of 2010, Italy's imports of long products from non-EU countries decreased by 23.4 percent to 141,000 metric tons, while its long product exports to these countries totaled 312,000 metric tons, down 25.5 percent, both compared to January-March 2009.
On the other hand, during the given period, Italy's flat product imports from non-EU countries reached 847,000 metric tons, up 11 percent year on year, while its flat product exports to non-EU countries amounted to 481,000 metric tons, with a year-on-year increase of 87.2 percent.