Japan's exports rise for 13th straight month – trade deficit larger than expected
Chips and AI products lift September exports by 16.7 per cent. But the gain is weaker than forecast, and the deficit comes in at 536.6 billion yen.
Symbolic image · Photo: Raimond Spekking / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Japan's exports rose in September for the 13th consecutive month. According to Ministry of Finance data, they increased 16.7 per cent year on year. However, economists polled by Reuters had expected 20.1 per cent, and in August the gain had been 19.3 per cent. Growth is driven by demand for semiconductors and AI-related products. Imports rose 18.9 per cent. The result was a trade deficit of 536.6 billion yen, or about 3.4 billion dollars. Only 181 billion yen had been expected. In August the deficit had stood at around 1.1 trillion yen.
Exports to the United States rose 22.9 per cent and those to China 8.6 per cent, according to investingLive. Imports were affected by tankers rerouting away from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which delayed crude deliveries to Japan. The government expects crude procurement to recover to roughly year-earlier levels in October as tankers routed via the Suez Canal arrive. The Bank of Japan ends its next policy meeting on 30 October; most economists expect the next rate hike in December.