According to the statistics released by the Italian steel producers' association Federacciai, in the first three months of 2011 Italy's overall steel imports reached five million metric tons, increasing by 25.4 percent, while its steel exports totaled 4.4 million metric tons, up 16.2 percent, both compared to January-March 2010.
In the period in question, Italy's semi-finished steel product imports reached 1.05 million metric tons, up 19.9 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the country's semi-finished steel product exports amounted to 213,000 metric tons, down 11.2 percent year on year.
In the first quarter, Italy's imports of long steel products increased by 26 percent to 674,000 metric tons, while its long product exports totaled 857,000 metric tons, up 10.3 percent, both year on year.
On the other hand, in the same period Italy's flat steel imports reached 2.89 million metric tons, up 27.4 percent year on year, while its flat product exports amounted to 1.89 million metric tons, with a year-on-year increase of 18 percent.