Japan Reports Another Surge In Trade Surplus --- Total Leaped to $3.84 Billion In January; Imports Fell, Exports Expanded 9.7%
TOKYO -- Japan's merchandise-trade surplus more than quadrupled in January from a year earlier, as cheaper oil prices held down the value of imports and exports expanded by a healthy 9.7%.</br></br>The surplus widened to $3.84 billion from a revised $911 million a year earlier, marking the 13th consecutive month of year-on-year increases, a fact that is certain to put more political pressures on Japan to narrow the imbalance.</br></br>The trade surplus with the U.S. rose for the sixth straight month, climbing 2.4% to $2.45 billion from $2.40 billion. Exports to the U.S. increased 1% to $6.73 billion. Auto exports fell 19.4% in volume and 12.3% in value. Imports from the U.S. inched up 0.3% to $4.29 billion. But excluding a near-quadrupling in the volume of aircraft imports during the month, imports from the U.S. actually dropped 2%.</br></br>Many analysts said the numbers were in line with expectations and noted that January figures can be skewed by Japan's long New Year's holidays. Nevertheless, most analysts expect the surplus to widen through the year. One of the lessons from the January figures is that they show that "a stubborn recession in the U.S. isn't going to stop Japanese exporters from selling their products," said Jesper Koll, chief economist at S.G. Warburg Securities (Japan) Inc.</br></br>Mr. Koll said the 9.7% gain in overall exports in January shows that Japanese producers are selling their "record large inventory buildup into the overseas market." He noted in particular that exports to the Middle East had tripled from a year earlier.