TOKYO- Japan’s exports and imports in December hit record highs in terms of their value in yen, data showed on Thursday, as supply bottlenecks eased at the end of 2021 amid rising prices.
However, a persistent semiconductor shortage remained a headache for Japanese firms such as automaker Toyota, which slashed its near-term output target this week, in addition to uncertainties around the Omicron variant.
“There’re considerable uncertainties” from Omicron, Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute said, adding it could derail various aspects of Japan’s economy from firms’ overseas supply chains to domestic consumption.
Exports in December rose 17.5 percent from a year earlier, Ministry of Finance data showed, outstripping a 16.0 percent gain expected by economists in a Reuters poll but below a 20.5 percent rise in November.
Yen-denominated exports and imports hit records of 7,881.4 billion yen ($69 billion) and 8,463.8 billion yen, respectively, biggest since comparable data became available in January 1979, largely as rising inflation affected both flows.
Steel exports rose 75.1 percent year-on-year by value, but the gain in export volume was 10.2 percent, suggesting soaring commodity prices pushed up values of made-in-Japan goods sold overseas.
Exports to the United States rose 22.1 percent, with car shipments marking their first year-on-year rise in five months at 11.9 percent as Japan’s factory output rebounded.
Shipments to China, Japan’s biggest trade partner, grew 10.8 percent in December from a year earlier.
Imports by the world’s No.3 economy surged 41.1 percent in December on higher raw material costs and a weak yen, versus expectations of a rise of 42.8 percent and growth of 43.8 percent in the previous month. — Reuters
