Japan’s April exports up 38%, sharpest in 11 yrs after virus slump

Japan's exports in April rose 38.0 percent from a year ago, the largest increase in over a decade, as they continued to recover from a coronavirus pandemic-triggered slump thanks to strong demand in China and the United States, government data showed Thursday.
Exports of goods in the reporting month soared to 7.18 trillion yen ($66 billion), posting the fastest pace of increase since a 40.4 percent jump in April 2010 when the world economy was rebounding from the global financial crisis, according to the preliminary data released by the Finance Ministry.
Exports expanded for the second straight month following a 16.1 percent leap in March.
The scale of the expansion is partly a reflection of a 21.9 percent plunge in the exports from the world's third-largest economy in April last year when the pandemic was hampering business activities worldwide and denting global demand for Japan-made items such as cars.
Still, the latest export figure was larger than the pre-pandemic figure of 6.66 trillion yen logged in April 2019.
Shipments of car and auto parts to the United States and semiconductor producing equipment to China increased remarkably in the reporting month.
Imports soared 12.8 percent in April to 6.93 trillion yen, up for the third month in a row, lifted by high prices of crude oil. The growth followed a revised 5.8 percent rise the previous month.
As a result, the trade balance logged a surplus of 255.32 billion yen, the third consecutive month of black ink.
The solid recovery of exports has been supporting Japan's economy, which is now suffering from dampened consumption under the government's third state of emergency declared in late April amid the spread of more contagious virus variants.
All figures were compiled on a customs-cleared basis.
Title: Japan's April exports up 38%, sharpest in 11 yrs after virus slump
Sourced From: english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/05/b874a8346839-update1-japans-april-exports-up-38-sharpest-in-11-yrs-after-virus-slump.html
Published Date: 05/20/21