KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s trade surplus with Japan nearly doubled to JPY 55.0 billion (USD 501 million) from a year earlier in December, as exports remained strong, Japanese Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
The surplus jumped by 90.7 percent, up for the 12th month in a row, the ministry said in a preliminary report. Kuwaiti overall exports to Japan surged 60.2 percent year-on-year to JPY 71.5 billion (USD 650 million) for the 12th consecutive month of increase. Imports from Japan also grew 4.2 percent to JPY 16.4 billion (USD 149 million), up for the second month.
As exports rose by a wider margin than imports, Kuwait maintained monthly black ink with Japan for nine years and 11 months. For the whole of 2017, Kuwait posted a trade surplus of 503.5 billion (USD 4.6 billion), up 82.3 percent from the previous year.
Middle East’s trade surplus with Japan also jumped 41.2 percent to JPY 639.1 billion (USD 5.8 billion) last month, with Japan-bound exports from the region rising 28.9 percent from a year earlier. Crude oil, refined products, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other natural resources, which accounted for 95.9 percent of the region’s total exports to Japan, expanded 28.7 percent. The region’s overall imports from Japan rose 4.0 percent on the back of increasing demand for vehicle and machinery.
The world’s third-biggest economy logged a global surplus of JPY 359.0 billion (USD 3.3 billion) in December, marking the seventh straight month of black ink, buoyed by continued rise in demand overseas for cars, steel and semiconductor-making equipment. Overall exports gained 9.3 percent from the year before, while imports climbed 14.9 percent, with value of crude oil to Japan inflating 28.8 percent.
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