TOKYO: Japan’s exports rose less than expected in September as growth in the value of shipments to North America halved compared to a month prior. The value of Japan’s outbound shipments rose 14.1 per cent year on year in September, according to the Ministry of Finance, marking the tenth month of growth but coming up short of a median estimate of 14.9 per cent from economists surveyed by Reuters.
The latest reading also marked a visible dip from August’s pace of 18.1 per cent. Exports to North America rose just 10.1 per cent, less than half the pace seen in August, while those to Asia grew 18.7 per cent, down about 1 percentage point from August – although shipments to China climbed 29.3 per cent, up from 25.8 per cent growth a month earlier. Imports grew 12 per cent in September, also missing expectations of a 15 per cent rise and down from the previous month’s growth of 15.2 per cent. Together with exports that resulted in a trade surplus of ¥670bn, well up from ¥113.6bn in August and exceeding a median forecast of ¥559.8bn from economists.
