MNI BRIEF: Japan Sept Exports Post 1st Rise In 5 Months

Japan’s exports rose 4.2% year-on-year in September, marking the first increase in five months, driven by stronger shipments of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and mineral fuels despite continued weakness in automobile exports, data from the Ministry of Finance showed Wednesday.

Automobile exports fell 0.6% in September, extending their decline to a sixth consecutive month following a 7.9% drop in August. Exports of iron and steel products fell 7.2%, narrowing from a 14.9% fall the previous month.

Imports rose 3.3% in September, their first increase in three months after a 5.2% decline in August. The trade balance remained in deficit for a third straight month, with a shortfall of JPY234.6 billion following August’s JPY242.8 billion gap.

Exports to China, Japan’s largest trading partner, climbed 5.8% in September, the first rise in seven months after a 0.5% decline in August. 

By contrast, exports to the U.S. fell 13.3%, marking a sixth straight drop following a 13.7% fall in August, as automobile shipments slumped 24.2% amid trade tensions, after a 28.4% decline the previous month.

The results are unlikely to immediately prompt the Bank of Japan to alter its assessment that exports have remained “more or less flat” as a trend.