Lebanese imports of steel products have seen a huge increase during the first 5 months of 2010, reaching 589,600t, up by 46.2% compared to 403,300t for the same period of 2009, according to the figures from Lebanese Customs.

Finished products came on top of imports amounting to 524,300t, of which 407,600t were long products (LP) and 85,270t were HR flats. The increase rate of finished products marked 46.1% when compared to 358,900t imported in the same period of 2009, of which 293,600t were LP and 65,240t flats.

Imports of pipes & tubes have also seen a rise by 146 pct, thus reaching 20,600t as compared to only 8,350t for the same period of 2009.

Belarus stood out as the largest steel exporter to Lebanon by 154,000t, followed by Ukraine 129,700t, Turkey 34,600t, Syria 12,700t, Russia 12,200t and China by 10,800t.

Source: Arab Steel