News
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) on Oct. 19 unveiled preliminary foreign-trade statistics for the first half of fiscal 2017 (April-September). As for the trade balance, it said that Japan enjoyed a surplus of \1.919 trillion, running in the black for the fourth consecutive term. In terms of value, however, it plunged 20.3% from a year earlier.
The MOF said that the total value of exports from Japan soared 12.8% to \38.374 trillion, as automobiles to the U.S., semiconductor parts and components to China and others were favorable. Meanwhile, imports were valued at \36.455 trillion, which surged 15.3%, with contributing factors including coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Australia and other countries and regions as well as crude oil and other energy resources from Saudi Arabia. As a consequence, the export value was greater than the import value by \1.919 trillion, which helped Japan register a trade surplus for four terms in a row.
By region, exports to the U.S. went up 10.6% to \7.419 trillion, and imports from the nation, up 12.1% to \4.035 trillion. The trade surplus expanded 8.7% to \3.384 trillion, which was the first year-on-year improvement in three terms.
Japan exported \4.296 trillion worth of commodities to Europe, which climbed 10.5%, and imported \4.312 trillion worth of products from the region, which rose 10.1%, generating a trade loss of \1.61 billion, which plunged 47.1%.
Exports to other Asian countries and regions that exclude China jumped 16% to a total of \20.971 trillion, while \17.873 trillion worth of goods were imported from the economies in total, which hiked 12.4%. The trade surplus ballooned 41.7% to \3.098 trillion.
Exports to China spiked 21.7% to \7.267 trillion, and imports from the nation inflated 7.8% to \8.806 trillion. The trade loss declined 29.9% to \1.539 trillion, scoring a year-on-year contraction for four straight terms.
