According to the statistics released by the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, in the first half of 2010 France's basic steel product and ferroalloy exports amounted to a value of €4.77 billion, increasing by 26.74 percent year on year.
In the given period, steel and ferroalloys ranked eighth among the most exported products of the country.
In the first half of this year, France exported €899.1 million of steel pipes and tubes - down 13.65 percent, €161.65 million of cold rolled steel bars - up 43.42 percent, €242.95 million of cold rolled steel strip - up 8.37 percent, €164.37 million of cold drawn wire - up 42.02 percent, €403.5 million of metal structures and parts - up 12.71 percent, all compared to January-June 2009.
Meanwhile, in the period in question France's basic steel product and ferroalloy imports totaled €4.65 billion, up 33.44 percent year on year.
During the given period, France imported €721.13 million of steel pipes and tubes - up 6.4 percent, €169.2 million of cold rolled steel bars - up 29.94 percent, €277.94 million of cold rolled steel strip - up 27.6 percent, €189.64 million of cold drawn wire - up 20.85 percent, and €644.43 million of metal structures and parts - up 13.37 percent, all compared to the first six months of the previous year.