Japan’s industrial production fell more than forecast last month, adding to pressure from a drop in domestic consumer spending and faltering inflation.
Output fell by 3.4 percent from January, when it rose by 3.7 percent, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said yesterday in Tokyo. The median estimate of 28 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a decline of 1.9 percent.
The data are the weakest since June last year and underscore the fragility of Japan’s recovery from a recession last year. The Lunar New Year holidays that took place in many parts of Asia last month also curbed export demand, further reducing production, Mizuho Securities Co economists said.
“A recovery in consumer spending has been slow after last April’s sales-tax hike and exports are not that strong yet,” Tokyo-based NLI Research Institute economic research director Taro Saito said. “Today’s figure is a reminder that it may be too early to be very optimistic about the economy.”
MOMENTUM
Production was down in 12 out of 15 subgroups, with a 7.6 percent drop in the output of computers and other information technology equipment. Output of electronic parts slipped 7.4 percent.
Inventories rose 0.5 percent as companies lowered production and reduced shipments.
“Production growth is losing momentum, excluding the effects of Lunar New Year holidays in Asia,” Citigroup Inc Tokyo-based economist Kiichi Murashima said. He expects output in the three months through this month to rise about 1.1 percent from the previous quarter.
SPENDING FALLS
Consumer prices excluding fresh food and the effects of a sales tax increase were flat last month, data released last week showed, as falling oil prices drag on inflation.
Household spending dropped 2.9 percent from a year earlier, the 11th straight monthly decline, while retail sales fell 1.8 percent.
The value of overseas shipments fell by a seasonally adjusted 7 percent last month from the previous month when they rose by 2 percent, as companies in China, South Korea and other nations increased purchases ahead of factory shutdowns over the holiday.
Real exports, which is the value of shipments adjusted for price changes, fell 8.6 percent last month, Bank of Japan data showed.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last