Japan's trade surplus with Asia plunges 45.6%
Japan's trade surplus with Asia plunges 45.6%
TOKYO (AFP): Japan's trade surplus with the rest of Asia slumped 45.6 percent in June from a year earlier as the global slowdown stalled Japanese exports to Asian nations, economists said.
Japan's surplus with the Asian region stood at 276 billion yen (US$2.24 billion), with exports falling 9.4 percent to 1,713.5 billion yen and imports rising 3.8 percent to 1,437.5 trillion yen, the finance ministry said Monday.
With Indonesia, Japan recorded a deficit of 86.1 billion yen, a 28.8 percent increase from a year-ago period.
The drop in the surplus in June was Japan's seventh consecutive month of decline, the ministry said.
Japan's exports to Asian markets would not grow until the the US economy recovered, revitalizing the global economy, economists said.
"Japan mainly exports semiconductors and machinery-related products to Asia. Then Asian nations use them to make products for sale in the United States," said Masaaki Kanno, chief Japan economist at JP Morgan Securities Asia.
"Asian exports to European and US markets have been very, very weak. As a result, Japan's exports to the Asian market have been slow as well," he said.
"Unless the US economy recovers, Japan's exports to Asia are not likely to rebound," Kanno said.
The recovery of the US information technology sector was a major factor in the recovery of Japan's Asia-bound exports, said Junji Ota, economist at Okasan Research Institute.
"If and when the demand of IT products in the United States rises, I think the demand for Japanese products will also rise in Asia," he said.
"Optimists would say the recovery (of the Asian demand for Japanese products) will come by the end of this year. I think the recovery could come early next year," he said.
Japan's overall trade surplus in June fell 36.1 percent from a year earlier to 761.7 billion yen ($6.19 billion), marking the 12th consecutive monthly decline, the ministry said Monday.
Exports in the month fell 7.8 percent to 4,136.7 billion yen, while imports grew 2.4 percent to 3,375.0 billion yen, the ministry said.