Japan October exports massively beat estimates on robust growth in shipments to Asia and Europe
Shipping container loads dock in Tokyo Bay.
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Government data on Friday showed Japan’s exports in October largely beat expectations as shipments to Europe and Asia saw strong growth.
Exports rose 3.6% annually, compared with expectations for growth of 1.1% by economists polled by Reuters.
However, growth remained below the 4.2% increase seen in September.
Exports to Asia rose 4.2% and shipments to Western Europe rose 8.8% year over year, helping offset a 2.7% decline to North America as goods shipped to the United States fell 3.1%.
Automobile shipments, Japan’s largest export to the United States by value, fell 7.5% from the same period earlier, but were softer than the 24.2% decline seen the previous month.
The data comes as Japan is locked in a diplomatic row with its biggest trading partner, China, over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments on Taiwan.
The impact of this debate on trade may emerge in next month’s data.
Mainland China has suspended seafood imports from Japan, the Asia Group said in a note on Wednesday. It was also noted that Chinese social media showed that some Japanese brand stores in Shanghai and Beijing closed “voluntarily” for several days, citing “reasons known to everyone.”
Meanwhile, imports of the world’s fourth-largest economy rose an unexpected 0.7%, defying expectations for a 0.7% decline in a Reuters poll.
Stronger-than-expected export data may be a welcome relief for the Japanese economy, which was in a difficult situation in the third quarter. While the country’s GDP contracted by 0.4% on a quarterly basis, net exports dragged the quarterly figure down by 0.2 points.
Japan also released consumer inflation data on Friday; Headline inflation has been above the Bank of Japan’s 2% target for 43 consecutive months.
Nikkei 225 While there was a 2.38% decrease after the data was announced, the Japanese yen It rose slightly against the dollar and traded at 157.39. Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama signaled the possibility of intervention in the market, saying she was “alarmed by recent unilateral, sharp movements in the foreign exchange market,” Reuters reported.
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