TOKYO: The finance ministry has said that the value of overseas shipments jumped 17 percent from a year earlier, exceeding a median 13.5 percent forecast. Imports fell 9 percent, reducing the trade deficit to 1.2 trillion yen ($9.9 billion) from a record shortfall of 2.8 trillion yen in January last year.
Export volumes rose the most in four years, signaling the yen’s drop is starting to aid an economy that struggled out of recession last quarter amid weakness in consumer and business spending. The drop in oil prices is cutting import costs.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average was headed Thursday for the highest close in 15 years as the biggest banks and Sony Corp. climbed. The stock index rose 0.4 percent at 2:18 p.m. in Tokyo. The yen was up 0.1 percent at 118.68 against the dollar, having lost 22 percent since the Bank of Japan began unprecedented monetary stimulus in April 2013 in an effort to reflate the economy. The central bank Wednesday gave a more upbeat assessment of exports than last month, saying they have been “picking up.”
Export volumes climbed 11 percent in January from a year earlier, helped by increased shipments of semiconductors and cars. Even with the gains, shipment volumes remain 32 percent below their historical peak in March 2008, before the global financial crisis sent exports into a tailspin. The value of Japan’s exports to Asia was the highest ever for January, according to the finance ministry. Automobiles were the biggest driver of growth in export values, with car shipments to the U.S. rising 14 percent and those to the EU up more than 16 percent. Exports of semiconductor components rose 24 percent, the second-largest contribution to the jump in total shipment values.
Much of the decline in imports stemmed from lower energy prices. The value of crude oil imports fell almost 41 percent, while that of liquid petroleum gas dropped 40 percent. Gross domestic product grew 0.6 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31, less than economists forecast, after contracting for two straight quarters. Net overseas shipments, which is exports minus imports, added 0.2 percentage point to the expansion.
