French crude steel production down year-on-year in July, August

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Production fell by 1.9% year-on-year in July to 1.44 million tonnes and by 7.2% in August to 954 250 tonnes.

Electric arc furnace (EAF) production picked up by 4.4%, totalling at 574, 650 tonnes, while in August it saw a 28.3% drop to 165,650 tonnes in comparison with August last year.

For the first eight months of 2012, total French crude steel production stood at 10.8 million tonnes, up by 1.6% compared with the same period in 2011, the FFA said.

Both EAF production and smelting rose, by 1.6% to 4.1 million tonnes and 6.7 million tonnes, respectively.