Longs continue to buck French export downtrend

French steel exports to non-EU countries decreased on-year in February after rising the previous month, Kallanish learns from national steel association Fédération Française de l’Acier (FFA) data.

French exports of flat and long steel to countries outside the EU27 were down by 4.4% year-on-year in February to 129,000 tonnes. Flats exports also decreased by 7.6% to 109,000t, compared to 118,000t in February 2021. Longs exports however reached 20,000t, hiking by 17.6% y-o-y, the association reveals.

In the first two months of the year, French exports of flats and longs fell by 1.5% y-o-y to 130,000 t/month. Flats exports decreased by 6.7% to 111,000 t/m, compared to 119,000 t/m in January-February 2021. Longs exports reached 19,000 t/m, a remarkable 46.2% y-o-y increase.

French shipments to non-EU countries increased in full-year 2021 by 7.3% on-year to 133,000 t/month.

Meanwhile, April crude steel output in France decreased by 15% on-year to 1 million tonnes. Average crude steel output in January-April fell by 7.4% on-year to 1.1m t/m.

Natalia Capra France