Cars, chips and other goods suffer biggest decline in 7 years in April in Japan

May 20, 2022

The slowdown in China’s economy caused by lockdowns in Shanghai and other cities resulted in a 22.6 percent drop in volume on the year in April, according to preliminary data released, the largest drop since February 2015.

Japan’s Finance Ministry reported a drop in its export volume index for China to 110.9, down from 100 in 2015. This was the index’s second consecutive month of decline, and it was larger than the 13% drop in March.

Major product categories experienced significant declines. In April, automobile exports totaled 19,743 vehicles, a 30.2 percent decrease. Steel production fell 30.3 percent to 328,000 tons. Power generation machinery exports fell 39.9 percent to 12,591 tons, while integrated circuits fell 28.5 percent to 1.71 billion units.

Because of the drop in trade with China, indexes for Japan’s global export and import volumes fell 4.4 percent and 9 percent, respectively. Both were the biggest drops since the pandemic hit in the summer and fall of 2020.

In April, Japan’s trade balance was in deficit of 839.1 billion yen ($6.52 billion), the ninth month in a row. Due to the rise in energy prices, imports increased by 28.2 percent to 8.91 trillion yen, the highest monthly total on record. After March, exports increased 12.5 percent to 8.07 trillion yen, the second-highest level on record.

Despite volume declines, higher prices increased the value of Japan’s imports and exports.

Source: Nikkei Asia News
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