According to the statistics released by the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, in the first four months of 2010 France's basic steel product and ferroalloy exports amounted to a value of €2.99 billion, increasing by 21.7 percent year on year.
In the given period, steel and ferroalloys ranked eighth among the most exported products of the country.
In the January-April period of this year, France exported €588.55 million of steel pipes and tubes - down 19.31 percent, €96.55 million of cold rolled steel bars - up 22.15 percent, €155.89 million of cold rolled steel strip - down 0.24 percent, €101.55 million of cold drawn wire - up 26.02 percent, €241.59 million of metal structures and parts - up 5.51 percent, all compared to January-April 2009.
Meanwhile, in the period in question France's basic steel product and ferroalloy imports totaled €2.95 billion, up 22.36 percent year on year.
During the given period, France imported €440.96 million of steel pipes and tubes - down 5.94 percent, €103.21 million of cold rolled steel bars - up 7.58 percent, €178.96 million of cold rolled steel strip - up 21.21 percent, €119 million of cold drawn wire - up 11.49 percent, and €388.49 million of metal structures and parts - up 3.1 percent, all compared to the first four months of the previous year.