Japan Suffers Record Trade Deficit of 11.4 T. Yen in 2013

Tokyo, Jan. 27 (Jiji Press)--Japan logged a customs-cleared trade deficit of 11,474.5 billion yen in 2013, the largest annual deficit since comparable data became available in 1979, the Ministry of Finance said in a preliminary report Monday. Japan's trade deficit topped 10 trillion yen for the first time and continued for three successive years for the first time. It has run a trade deficit since 2011, when the massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged the northeastern part of the country. Demand for fuel for thermal power generation, such as liquefied natural gas, surged due to suspensions of nuclear reactors after the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s <9501> stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Also, the yen's depreciation expanded the yen-value of imports. As the pace of growth in exports is slower than that of imports, Japan is not expected to eliminate a trade deficit. In 2013, Japan's exports rose 9.5 pct to 69,787.7 billion yen, growing for the first time in three years, the ministry said. Automobile exports increased 12.9 pct, and exports of organic compounds, which are used to make such products as plastic bottles, jumped 38.8 pct. The country's imports grew 15.0 pct to a record 81,262.2 billion yen, with rises of 16.3 pct in crude oil and 17.5 pct in LNG. Imports of electronic parts such as semiconductors increased 37.4 pct and those of smartphones and communications equipment rose 24.6 pct. Clothing imports grew 21.1 pct. In trade with the United States, Japan logged a trade surplus of 6,119.8 billion yen, up 19.8 pct. By contrast, Japan suffered a record deficit of 5,021.5 billion yen in trade with mainland China, bigger than the year-before deficit of 3,529.6 billion yen. In trade with the European Union, Japan logged a trade deficit of 648.7 billion yen, also a record high, against the year-before deficit of 141.2 billion yen. In December alone, Japan ran a trade deficit of 1,302.1 billion yen, in the red for the 18th month in a row, the longest ever streak. The figure compared with the year-before deficit of 645.7 billion yen and the median forecast of 1,257.3 billion yen in deficit among 25 research institutes surveyed by Jiji Press. Exports grew 15.3 pct from a year before to 6,110.5 billion yen, and imports jumped 24.7 pct to 7,412.6 billion yen. END