Japan's Jan. trade deficit biggest on record amid global recession

TOKYO, Feb. 26 Kyodo - Japan recorded the biggest-ever trade deficit of 952.6 billion yen in January,
the Finance Ministry said Wednesday, signaling that the global economic
recession has increasingly hurt the country's exports.

The country logged a deficit for the fourth straight month, the longest since
the 14-month period marked between July 1979 and August 1980, when Japan
suffered from soaring oil prices following the second oil shock. The red ink
figure in the reporting month was the biggest since comparable data became
available in 1979.
Exports declined 45.7 percent from a year earlier to 3,482.6 billion yen, the
biggest rate of fall since the ministry began publicizing year-on-year changes
in 1980, the ministry said in a preliminary report.
Exports of vehicles, auto parts and semiconductors shrank remarkably. Companies
cutting production amid the slowing economy, as well as business halts during
the New Year holidays, contributed to the weak results.
Imports slid 31.7 percent to 4,435.2 billion yen as crude oil prices tumbled
and imports of electronic devices decreased.
Crude oil imports were down 64.2 percent as average oil prices fell 52.6
percent to $43.2 per barrel.
Akira Maekawa, senior economist at UBS Securities Japan Ltd., said Japanese
trade figures for the month of January tend to be weak, given such special
factors as business closures during the New Year holidays.
''Still, the latest result is weak,'' Maekawa said, adding that the U.S.
economic outlook is a key to whether Japan's trade balance could improve.
''We estimate that the positive effects of U.S. economic stimulus measures
would surface in the later half of this year, and that is the basic premise for
any improvement,'' he said, warning that if the scenario collapses, the trade
environment would deteriorate further.
By region, Japan's trade surplus with the United States fell 75.3 percent to
132.8 billion yen for the 17th consecutive month of decline.
Japanese exports to the world's biggest economy decreased 52.9 percent, the
steepest fall on record, to 571.7 billion yen due mainly to weak shipment of
vehicles. Imports from the United States dropped 35.0 percent to 438.9 billion
yen.
Trade balance with the rest of Asia fell into the red for the first time in
three years, with the biggest ever deficit of 430.1 billion yen.
Japanese exports to other Asian economies marked the steepest-ever fall of 46.7
percent to 1,618.5 billion yen, largely affected by weak shipments of
semiconductors and other electronic devices to China. Imports were down 25.4
percent to 2,048.6 billion yen.
With China, excluding Hong Kong and Macao, Japan suffered a 562.7 billion yen
deficit, extending the losing streak to five months.
Japan's exports to China fell 45.1 percent to 512.1 billion yen, with imports
down 16.2 percent to 1,074.8 billion yen.
Trade surplus with the European Union declined 92.3 percent to 26.6 billion yen
for the fifth straight monthly fall.
Japanese exports to the 27-nation economic zone lost 47.4 percent, also a
record-fast rate of fall, to 522.0 billion yen, while imports from the bloc
slid 23.3 percent to 495.3 billion yen.
Trade data are measured on a customs-cleared basis before adjustments for
seasonal factors.
==Kyodo