Japan posts record trade deficit in January

PanARMENIAN.Net - Japan posted a record trade deficit in January, data showed Monday, Feb 20, as fuel imports rose following last year's nuclear disaster while exports were hit by a strong yen and slumping demand in Europe, AFP reported.

The January deficit came in at 1,475 billion yen ($18.5 billion), the highest since records began in 1979, the finance ministry said.

The record figure comes after Japan registered its first annual trade deficit in 31 years in 2011, triggering warnings that the country was likely to see more negative figures throughout the year.

The latest figure was more than triple the year-before shortfall of 479.4 billion yen and far exceeded the previous monthly record of 967.9 billion yen in January 2009 during the financial crisis.

It was the fourth straight monthly deficit but in line with a 1.468 trillion shortfall expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.

Japan's overall exports tumbled 9.3 percent to 4,510 billion yen last month because of lower shipments of semiconductors and other electronic devices.

Imports surged 9.8 percent to 5,985 billion yen, with purchases of liquefied natural gas shooting up 74.3 percent and coal rising 26.5 percent.

Demand for fossil fuel has surged in Japan after the March 11 earthquake-tsunami disaster sparked the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years, leading the government to take many atomic reactors offline.

Japan logged a trade deficit of 357.1 billion yen with the rest of Asia, the first shortfall in three years. It ran a record deficit of 587.9 billion yen with its biggest trading partner China, due partly to Lunar New Year celebrations there.