Japanese exports showed a rare sign of recovery in March, government figures showed yesterday, suggesting that the global slump in trade that has pushed the economy into a deep recession may be easing.
Exports were almost half the levels of a year earlier but on a seasonally adjusted basis they rose in March from February, the first monthly pick up since May last year – welcome news for the world's No2 economy battling its worst downturn in half a century.
Sales to China and the United States fell sharply compared to a year earlier, but the falls were smaller than in February. Still, exports to the European Union fell at a record pace.
The annual decline in semiconductor and other electronics parts sales eased slightly in March from February, but autos demand plunged again.
"It will take more time for exports to make a full-fledged rebound as overseas economies won't recover any time soon," said Takahide Kiuchi, Chief Economist at Nomura Securities.
"But we expect exports to make a moderate pickup near-term with sharp falls having stopped due to easing strains from the global financial shock, falling inventories and big stimulus packages compiled across the globe."
Exports fell 45.6 per cent from a year earlier and imports dropped 36.7 per cent. Both declines were smaller than forecast and smaller than the record falls in February.
That produced a trade surplus of ¥11 billion (Dh412 million), down 99 per cent from a year earlier. Economists had forecasts a ¥5bn deficit.
Japan's big manufacturers have been hit hard by the worst global downturn since the 1930s. But they expect output to rise in March and April after slashing inventories at a record pace.
Global stock markets have rallied on hopes the world-wide downturn may be nearing its bottom. Tokyo's Nikkei average has gained nearly 24 per cent since hitting a 26-year closing low in March.
Such sentiment may be reflected this weekend in a meeting of the financial heads of the G7 nations, officials have said.
March exports to China dropped 31.5 per cent from a year earlier, a smaller fall than in February and January. Exports to the US dropped 51.4 per cent in March from a year earlier, but the fall was also smaller than the previous month's 58.4 per cent decline.
But demand remained weak in the European Union, with shipments to the region falling a record 56.1 per cent after a 54.7 per cent drop in February.
Slack demand for Japanese cars was largely behind the annual fall in exports.
Auto sales slumped 70 per cent in March from a year earlier. The latest figures didn't provide a comparison with previous months, but February data had shown a similar slide.
The slide in auto sales to the US eased to 69.1 per cent from 76.6 per cent in February's data, but the slump in shipments to the European Union remained at more than 70 per cent.
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