Japan Oct. Trade Surplus Drops 28.8 Pct.

Japan Oct. trade surplus drops 28.8 pct.

TOKYO, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) — Japan’s trade surplus in October stood at 822.1 billion yen (6.9 billion US dollars), down 28.8 percent from the previous year, due to soaring interational oil prices, the government said Thursday.

Imports rose 17.8 percent to 5,087.7 billion yen (42.9 billion dollars) in the reported month. Crude oil imports increased 49.5 percent in value terms, up 50.0 percent from a year earlier, according to a report by the Finance Ministry.

Exports increased to 5,909,9 billion yen (49.8 billion dollars), up 8.0 percent.

Japan posted a 218.5 billion yen (1.8 billion dollars) trade deficit with China, excluding Hong Kong, up 29.2 percent from a year earlier.

Exports to China hit a record 831.9 billion yen (7.0 billion dollars), up 12.8 percent, thanks to strong trade on steel.

Meanwhile, imports from China were up 15.8 percent to 1,050.4 billion yen (8.8 billion dollars), led by the inflow of goods related to mobile phones and personal computers. The figure was the second-highest record.

Japan’s trade surplus with the United States expanded 20.9 percent to 738.2 billion yen (6.2 billion dollars) with the total trade volume standing at 1,943.7 billion yen (16.4 billion dollars) .

The trade surplus with the European Union fell 5.8 percent to 313.4 billion yen (2.6 billion dollars). The trade volume totaled 1,371.6 billion yen (11.6 billion dollars).