American and Asian exporters benefit most from Japanese import

American and Asian exporters benefit most from Japanese import boom

TOKYO (AFP): Exporters from the United States and Asian countries, notably China, are benefiting most from the current boom in Japanese imports, leaving their European competitors largely behind.

Computer chips from the United States, textiles from China and timber products from Southeast Asia were among the major items which helped boost Japan's imports by 4.8 percent to US$244 billion in the year to March.

While imports of office equipment and cars from Europe also benefited from a stronger yen, total imports from the European Union (EU) were stagnant, a sharp contrast to the surge in imports from the United States and Asia.

Figures released by Japan's finance ministry show that lumber, textiles and semiconductors together accounted for precisely half the overall increase in Japanese imports in the year to March. Imports of seafood, office equipment and timber products were also a driving force.

Asian countries accounted for almost three quarters of the import surge, with China alone accounting for more than a third and the six-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) almost a quarter. ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

The United States meanwhile absorbed almost 40 percent of the increase. But the EU contribution was zero with increased imports from Britain offset by lower imports from Germany and France, the ministry said.

Lower oil prices resulted in imports from the Middle East making a negative contribution.

Economists here say much of the dominant Asian share in the Japanese import surge is linked to the growing amount of products, notably in the electronics sector, produced by Japanese companies in Asia.

But there are other factors at play.

"The yen didn't go up as much against European currencies as it did against the dollar," said Michael Hartnett, economist at Schroder Securities (Japan) Ltd., noting that this made US and Asian goods more competitive.

In addition, "you've got to look at what Europeans produce -- wines from France and fur coats from Germany," Hartnett said, adding that the recent revival in Japanese consumer spending was not geared toward expensive products.

Japanese imports from Asia leapt 10.9 percent to $83 billion, led by textiles, timber products, seafood, semiconductors and office equipment.

In the financial year to March, Japan's imports from the United States, its biggest single trading partner, grew 8.4 percent from a year earlier to almost $57 billion, led by semiconductors, lumber, meat and textiles.

Imports jumped 28 percent to $2.9 billion for semiconductors, by 13 percent to $3.3 billion for lumber, by 14 percent to $2.7 billion for meat and by 52 percent to $907 million for textiles.