Finished steel product imports to the EU were down 34.7% year-on-year in August, according to figures released by the European steel association Eurofer.
Total imports into the 27 member states fell to 1.005 million tonnes, from 1.538 million tonnes in August 2011, with imports for flat products showing the sharpest drop of 35.4% year-on-year to 839,000 tonnes.
Imports of long products also dropped, falling by 30.5% year-on-year to 166,000 tonnes, compared with 219,000 tonnes in the corresponding month in 2011.
Elfi Middelbeek
emiddelbeek@steelfirst.com
Twitter: @EMiddelbeek_SF