Global Markets
Japan's export growth slows to 16.7% in September, short of forecasts, as the trade deficit tops estimates
Chip shipments rose by nearly half and sales to the US climbed 22.9%, but a 39% jump in the fuel import bill kept Japan in deficit for the month.
HedgeWeekly News Desk ·
Japan's exports rose 16.7% from a year earlier in September, according to provisional Ministry of Finance data released on Wednesday, missing the 20.1% gain expected in a Reuters poll. It was the 13th straight month of growth, but slower than August's 19.3% rise.
Imports grew 18.9%, a little below the 19.6% forecast, leaving a trade deficit of 536.6 billion yen. Economists had expected a gap of about 181 billion yen. The shortfall was still roughly half August's deficit of about 1.11 trillion yen. Mineral fuel imports, the largest import category, rose 39.4% to about 2.35 trillion yen.
Semiconductors led the export side. Chip shipments jumped 49.4% to about 934 billion yen, and electrical machinery exports overall rose 30.3%. Exports to the United States grew 22.9% to about 1.96 trillion yen, and imports from the US rose 44.8%, leaving Japan with a bilateral surplus of about 393 billion yen. Shipments to the EU rose 10.5%, while exports to the Middle East fell 12.0%. Japan ran a deficit of about 1.03 trillion yen with China.
Why it matters: the data show an export engine still running fast on chips, but no longer fast enough to cover a fuel bill that rose almost 40% from a year earlier. With the yen around 158 to the dollar, energy costs are shaping Japan's external balance more than demand for its goods. For funds holding Japanese exporters, the takeaway is that growth is narrowing toward semiconductors and the US market, while sales to the Middle East shrink. The figures are provisional and may be revised when final data are published.