France imported 325.2 thousand tons of steel from third countries in January-October

In January-October 2024, France reduced imports of rolled steel products from third countries by 9.4% compared to the same period in 2023, to 325.23 thousand tons. This is evidenced by GMK Center’s calculations based on Eurostat data.

Over 10 months, imports of flat products decreased by 24.8% y/y, while imports of long products increased by 6.3% y/y – to 189.54 thousand tons and 135.69 thousand tons, respectively. Long products accounted for more than 58% of total steel imports to France in January-October 2024.

The bulk of imports came from coated flat products (HS 7210) – 63.37 thousand tons (+5.4% y/y), rebar (HS 7214) – 59.53 thousand tons (-6.2% y/y), and angles, shapes and special sections (HS 7216) – 38.33 thousand tons (+1.4% y/y).

In October, imports of rolled steel products to France amounted to 33.85 thousand tons, down 6.6% y/y. Supplies of long products increased by 28.4% y/y – to 23.43 thousand tons, while flat products decreased by 42.1% y/y – to 10.42 thousand tons.

Over 10 months, steel exports from France increased by 3.9% y/y – to 1.39 million tons. In particular, exports of long products increased by 9.2% y/y – to 331.31 thousand tons, and flat products by 2.4% y/y – to 1.06 million tons.

The largest exports were of flat products of other alloy steels (HS 7225) – 380.92 thousand tons (+6.6% y/y), hot-rolled flat products (HS 7208) – 349.84 thousand tons (-5.2% y/y), and coated flat products (HS 7210) – 203.62 thousand tons (+7% y/y).

In October, France exported 139.45 thousand tons of rolled steel, which is 20.6% less than in October 2023. Exports of long products fell by 14% y/y – to 38.94 thousand tons, and flat products by 22.9% y/y – to 100.5 thousand tons.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, France reduced steel production by 17.4% compared to 2022, to 10.01 million tons. The average monthly steel production for the year amounted to 840.7 thousand tons, while in 2022 the figure was 1.01 million tons (-16.76% y/y).

Steel production in the European Union amounted to 126.3 million tons in 2023, down 7.4% y/y.