Japan Trade Deficit: Ideas Later.

Japan logs 2.8 tril. yen 1st-half trade deficit amid Middle East crisis

Ideas to be deleted after ideas.

Article:

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan logged a trade deficit of 2.82 trillion yen ($17.8 billion) in the first half of fiscal 2026, covering April through September, as soaring crude oil prices drove up import costs amid turmoil in the Middle East, government data showed Wednesday.

The deficit also widened due to a weaker yen, nearly doubling from a year earlier and extending the streak of half-year trade deficits to 11 consecutive periods, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.

Imports rose 20.4 percent to 66.28 trillion yen, a record high for a half-year period since comparable data became available in 1979. The increase was driven by higher imports of crude oil and electronic components.

Exports climbed 18.4 percent to a record 63.46 trillion yen, supported by automobiles to the United States and European Union countries and semiconductor-related electronic components particularly to other Asian markets.

By product, exports and imports of semiconductor-related electronic components both rose sharply, increasing 50.8 percent and 63.2 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.

Crude oil imports from the United States increased more than fivefold in volume and nearly ninefold in value, while crude oil imports from the Middle East plunged 44.5 percent in volume amid disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, a ministry official said.

The average exchange rate during the first half was 159.54 yen to the dollar, representing a 9.2 percent year-on-year depreciation of the Japanese currency.

In September alone, Japan posted a trade deficit of 536.5 billion yen, marking its fifth consecutive month in the red. Exports increased 16.7 percent and imports rose 18.9 percent from a year earlier.

Imports from the United States surged 44.8 percent to 1.57 trillion yen, a record high for the month of September, driven by crude oil.

Exports of automobiles to China dropped 59.8 percent in value, due largely to a decline in shipments of hybrid vehicles, the official said.

Article source:   https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20261021/p2g/00m/0bu/032000c