Contact Your Financial Adviser Money Making MC
19 February 2018
 |
Japan Trade (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)
Japan's trade sector started out the year on a strong note though it
slipped into deficit for the first time in eight months due to higher oil
prices and seasonal factors. The Total
Investment & Insurance Solutions
Customs data released Monday showed imports
rose 8 percent from a year earlier to 7.03 trillion yen ($66 billion). Exports
jumped 12 percent to 6.09 trillion yen ($57.1 billion), leaving a deficit of
943.4 billion yen ($8.8 billion).
Exports to China jumped 30 percent from a
year earlier.
Oil prices have gained over the past year,
rising from about $55 per barrel in January 2017 to more than $70 per barrel
for part of last month. As a resource-scarce nation, Japan imports nearly all
of its non-renewable energy needs. Imports of oil, gas and coal jumped nearly
10 percent in January from a year earlier, to almost 1.6 trillion yen ($15
billion).
Japan's trade surplus with the U.S. fell 12
percent as exports edged higher to 1.07 trillion yen ($1 billion). Surging
shipments of liquefied petroleum gas, soybeans and machinery helped push imports
up 9 percent year-on-year to 717 billion yen ($6.7 billion). The Total Investment & Insurance
Solutions
Harumi Taguchi, an economist for HIS Markit,
said the timing of new year and lunar new year holidays likely pushed the
balance into deficit. But she added that "the overall trend for exports is
likely to remain solid thanks to sustained brisk machinery orders from
overseas, which will contribute to maintaining Japan's trade surplus over the
near term."
The yen has recently gained in value, which
could stunt exports in coming months, though for now it is mostly reducing
costs for imports and exports since more than half of all of Japan's exports
and imports are contracted in dollars, Taguchi said.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
No comments:
Post a Comment