Japan's Trade Balance Back in Black with Car Exports Bouncing Back

Japan’s trade deficit is back in the black again after 3 months of negative figures caused by the earthquake’s impact on manufacturing as well as an increased demand for fuel imports. The March figures of 70.7 billion Yen are 89.5% down on the same period last year, but are still welcome as a good sign of recovery after March’s earthquake.

Exports overall were down 1.6% on the previous year, but the car industry, which has been hit particularly hard recently, registered an improved figure of 12.5% below June 2010, which is significantly better than the -38.9% figure for May, and the -67% figure for April.

As I have blogged previously, the car makers are looking to make a powerful come back at the end of the year with aggressive new model launches as well as increased output to balance the shortages earlier in 2011. From the looks of these figures, they are well on their way to getting back on their feet, and I would not be surprised if we saw July’s car export figures besting those for July 2010.

Source: Nikkei (Japanese)