empty
17.02.2022 08:45 PM
Japan's trade deficit jumps to 8-year high as commodity imports soar

In February, Japan reported its biggest single-month trade deficit in eight years. High energy prices boosted imports and manufacturers struggled with global supply constraints, leading to a drop in car deliveries.

The growing trade deficit highlights the world's third-largest economy's vulnerability to soaring commodity costs and slowing demand from giant neighbour China as the economy there struggles to maintain momentum.

Imports soared 39.6 % year-on-year in January to a record high in yen terms, reaching 8.5231 trillion yen ($73.81 billion), Finance Ministry data showed on Thursday. That was above the median market forecast of 37.1%.

That greatly outstripped a 9.6% rise in exports in the year to January, bringing the trade balance to a deficit of 2.1911 trillion yen, its biggest in a single month since January 2014.

The deficit was much bigger than the median estimate for a 1.607 trillion yen shortfall.

"Exports tend to go down in January due to seasonal factors as factory operation rates are usually low due to New Year holidays," said Takumi Tsunoda, senior economist at Shinkin Central Bank Research Institute.

"So it's easy for the trade balance to go in the red in the month, but the deficit was still large, even when taking that into account," he added.

A big factor in the deficit was a decline in car exports, said Tsunoda, which swung into contraction from an expansion in the previous month.

Manufacturers, including Toyota Motor Corp and Suzuki Motor Corp, were forced to temporarily close some plants after facing supply chain disruptions and pressure due to a record surge in COVID-19 infections at home.

Imports were boosted by a sharp increase in shipments of oil, coal and liquefied natural gas.

By region, exports to China, Japan's largest trading partner, dropped by 5.4% in the 12 months to January, recording the first decline in 19 months, while imports jumped 23.7%, posting the biggest increase in four months.

This was probably partly due to slower exports and advance demand ahead of the week-long Chinese Lunar New Year, which began on the last day of January.

A bigger cause of worry was the slowing momentum of China's massive economy, which is facing weakening consumption and a property downturn, some analysts said.

"China's economic slowdown could weaken exports going forward," said Ryosuke Katagi, market economist at Mizuho Securities.

US-bound shipments, another key market for Japanese goods, grew 11.5% in January, as stronger machinery shipments outweighed a fall in car exports.

Separate government data showed core machinery orders, which serve as a leading indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, were up 3.6% in December from the prior month, better than an expected 1.8% fall.

Manufacturers expected core orders to decline 1.1% in January-March, after a 6.5% gain in the previous quarter.

Japan's economy grew slightly less than expected in the final quarter of 2021 as falling coronavirus cases helped prop up consumption, government data showed on Tuesday, though a record surge in Omicron variant cases and the high raw material prices are clouding the outlook.

Egor Danilov,
Experto analítico de InstaForex
© 2007-2025
Summary
Urgency
Analytic
Egor Danilov
Start trade
Gana con los cambios en el valor de las criptomonedas con InstaForex.
Descarga MetaTrader 4 y abre tu primera operación.
  • Grand Choice
    Contest by
    InstaForex
    InstaForex always strives to help you
    fulfill your biggest dreams.
    UNIRSE AL CONCURSO

Recommended Stories

Boom bursátil: Nvidia supera los $4 billones, el Bitcoin no se queda atrás, Dow y S&P suben

Los índices suben: el Dow Jones creció un 0,43 %, el S&P 500 un 0,27 %, y el Nasdaq un 0,09 %. Nvidia cerró la sesión. Pronóstico positivo de Delta

10:33 2025-07-11 UTC+2

Trump vuelve al ataque: arancel del 50% sobre el cobre y nuevos golpes a China y la UE

Trump anunció aranceles del 50% sobre la importación de cobre, nuevos aranceles sobre semiconductores y productos farmacéuticos. Declaró que las negociaciones con la UE y China son exitosas. Japón

10:28 2025-07-09 UTC+2

De $4 a $100 mil por moneda – ¿por qué están despertando las carteras BTC «antiguas»?

Siete carteras de Bitcoin «antiguas», creadas en abril y mayo de 2011, se activaron repentinamente. En conjunto, movieron 70 000 BTC – el equivalente a $7,6 mil millones al tipo

Svetlana Radchenko 07:25 2025-07-07 UTC+2

S&P, Nasdaq y Dow suben al unísono: los mercados reaccionan a las sorpresas en el empleo y la política comercial

S&P 500 subió un 0,83%; Nasdaq subió un 1,02%; Dow subió un 0,77%. El crecimiento del empleo en EE. UU. superó las expectativas en junio. Tripadvisor sube tras el informe

11:15 2025-07-04 UTC+2

NonFarm Payrolls, la Fed o el big beautiful bill: ¿qué quebrará al dólar estadounidense?

Wall Street incansablemente marca récord tras récord . El miércoles, el índice S&P 500, impulsado por los gigantes tecnológicos, volvió a alcanzar un máximo histórico. La razón no fue solo

Svetlana Radchenko 07:32 2025-07-03 UTC+2

Paz con China, caos en la Fed: ¿qué es más importante para el dólar?

EE. UU. y China anunciaron nuevos acuerdos comerciales, una noticia que hace no mucho podría haber sido un salvavidas para el dólar. Pero no esta vez. La mañana del viernes

Аlena Ivannitskaya 08:02 2025-06-27 UTC+2

El Bitcoin brilla y se mantiene por encima de los $107 000, y el Nasdaq 100 tampoco se queda atrás: el mercado se anima

Al final de la semana actual, los mercados muestran animación y un repunte: el índice Nasdaq 100 ha demostrado crecimiento, y el mercado de criptomonedas, en particular el Bitcoin, también

Larisa Kolesnikova 13:01 2025-06-26 UTC+2

Juegos peligrosos del dólar: entre un posible colapso y nuevas esperanzas

La moneda estadounidense vuelve a estar agitada, y esta volatilidad continúa intensificándose. En este contexto, algunos analistas predicen el colapso del USD, mientras que otros, por el contrario, confían

Larisa Kolesnikova 13:57 2025-06-24 UTC+2

Trump bombardea Irán: los mercados en pánico, el dólar se dispara

En la noche del domingo, EE. UU. lanzó un ataque aéreo masivo contra instalaciones nucleares iraníes, iniciando una nueva fase de escalada en Oriente Medio. Ya el lunes, los mercados

Аlena Ivannitskaya 07:54 2025-06-23 UTC+2

Trump pensará si vale la pena bombardear Irán: los mercados respiran, el dólar cae

La tensión geopolítica que mantuvo a los mercados en vilo toda la semana finalmente se debilitó, al menos por un tiempo. Donald Trump declaró que se tomará dos semanas para

Аlena Ivannitskaya 08:06 2025-06-20 UTC+2
¿No puede hablar ahora mismo?
Ingrese su pregunta en el chat.
Widget callback
 

Dear visitor,

Your IP address shows that you are currently located in the USA. If you are a resident of the United States, you are prohibited from using the services of InstaFintech Group including online trading, online transfers, deposit/withdrawal of funds, etc.

If you think you are seeing this message by mistake and your location is not the US, kindly proceed to the website. Otherwise, you must leave the website in order to comply with government restrictions.

Why does your IP address show your location as the USA?

  • - you are using a VPN provided by a hosting company based in the United States;
  • - your IP does not have proper WHOIS records;
  • - an error occurred in the WHOIS geolocation database.

Please confirm whether you are a US resident or not by clicking the relevant button below. If you choose the wrong option, being a US resident, you will not be able to open an account with InstaForex anyway.

We are sorry for any inconvenience caused by this message.