Japan's trade surplus last month rose 1.8 percent from a year earlier to ?1.14 trillion (US$11.08 billion) led by robust demand for steel and plastic products in Asia, the government said yesterday.
For the whole of last year, the surplus hit a five-year high on the back of brisk exports to Asia, with China including Hong Kong replacing the US as Japan's largest trade partner for the first time in recent history.
Last month's surplus, the first rise in two months, was slightly better than the consensus forecast for ?1.13 trillion. Exports grew 8.8 percent to ?5.396 trillion in the month and imports expanded ?10.9 percent to Y4.254 trillion, the finance ministry said.
"The trade surplus rose as exports grew steadily thanks to strong demand in Asia," said a finance ministry official.
Japan's quality steel products drew strong demand from South Korean shipyards and Chinese carmakers, he said.
Overall steel exports last month rose 29.1 percent while exports of plastic and chemical products gained 35.4 percent with car parts up 13.1 percent.
The ministry said Japan's trade surplus rose 17.9 percent last year to ?12.01 trillion, the highest since 1999, when it totaled ?12.28 trillion.
Last year exports were up 12.2 percent to a record ?61.18 trillion and imports increased 10.8 percent to a record ?49.17 trillion.
"The surplus grew on strong exports of IT products in the first half and on robust steel exports in the second half," said UFJ Institute senior economist Tomomichi Akuta.
Asia-bound exports, which account for some 50 percent of Japan's total shipments, remained solid throughout last year, the ministry official said.
"Our exports to Asia are the backbone of Japan's economic growth and we expect them to continue growing this year," he said.
Some economists, however, said the trade surplus may not continue growing steadily in the face of high commodity and energy prices on imports, coupled with the drag of a possible sharp drop in the dollar on exports.
"Due to the combination of soaring base material prices and a slowdown of exports of electronics devices, net exports are not likely to make any positive contribution to Japan's gross domestic product growth in the near term," said Daiwa Institute of Research senior economist Junichi Makino said.
The finance ministry said China, including Hong Kong, became Japan's biggest trading partner last year for the first time since World War II, surpassing the US.
Japan's trade with China, including Hong Kong, totaled ?22.2 trillion last year, outpacing the ?20.5 trillion with the US. With China alone, Japan had a trade deficit of ?2.20 trillion, up 5 percent for the year, as exports rose 20.5 percent to ?7.99 trillion and imports rose 16.8 percent to ?10.19 trillion.
"As China's economy continues to grow, we will see a further expansion of trade between the two countries," the ministry official said.
Last month Japan's trade surplus with Asia slipped 2.3 percent to ?706.9 billion as exports rose 7.5 percent to ?2.63 trillion and imports expanded 11.7 percent to ?1.92 trillion.
The surplus with the EU rose 29.2 percent to ?344.9 billion as exports increased 11 percent to ?866.8 billion and imports edged up 1.6 percent to ?522 billion.
The surplus with the US rose 18.9 percent to ?663.8 billion last month as exports gained 6.0 percent to ?1.18 trillion while imports fell 6.8 percent to ?518.8 billion.
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS