Japan Logs Biggest Trade Deficit for July

Tokyo, Aug. 19 (Jiji Press)--Japan logged 1,024 billion yen in customs-cleared trade deficit in July, the biggest deficit for the month since the current statistical format began in 1979, the Ministry of Finance said Monday. The figure, far bigger than the year-before deficit of 528.6 billion yen, compared with a median forecast of 785.6 billion yen in deficit among 24 research institutes. Japan's trade balance remained in the red for the 13th consecutive month. The massive July deficit came as imports of liquefied natural gas and crude oil shot up due in part to the yen's weakness, ministry officials said. Exports rose 12.2 pct from a year earlier to 5,962 billion yen, up for the fifth straight month, thanks to robust automobile exports to the United States and the Middle East. Exports of organic compounds used to make plastic products also increased. Imports grew 19.6 pct to 6,986 billion yen. Crude oil and LNG imports rose 30.2 pct and 16.9 pct, respectively, on the back of strong demand for electricity for air conditioning amid hot weather. Power suppliers in Japan are using a lot of crude oil and LNG as fuel for thermal power generation at a time when most nuclear power reactors remain suspended as safety concerns grew after the nation's worst nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s <9501> disaster-crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant in March 2011. Japan also posted growth in imports of clothing and electronic parts such as semiconductors. Automobile imports from Europe grew as well. By region, Japan posted a deficit of 386.4 billion yen in trade with mainland China, compared with the year-before deficit of 252.1 billion yen, and a deficit of 102.6 billion yen with the European Union, against the 94.4-billion-yen deficit a year before. Both figures represented the biggest deficits for July. Japan incurred a trade deficit with China for the 17th straight month and with the EU for seven months in a row. In trade with the United States, Japan's surplus expanded 18.6 pct to 500 billion yen, up for the seventh consecutive month. END