Japan’s exports seen posting largest monthly gain since 2010
TOKYO: Japan’s exports likely grew more than 30 per cent year-on-year in April, the most in more than a decade, a poll showed, but the base effect was a major factor after last year’s steep decline due to the initial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The world’s third-largest economy has recovered largely due to solid overseas demand that has boosted output and exports, even as a resurgence of coronavirus infections are dampening consumption.
Next week’s key data include machinery orders and consumer and wholesale prices, as well as first-quarter gross domestic product figures that will be released on Tuesday.
Exports likely surged 30.9 per cent in April from a year earlier, which would mark the sharpest monthly rise since May 2010, the poll of 18 economists showed.
Imports were forecast to have grown 8.8 per cent in April from a year earlier, which would result in a trade surplus of 140.0 billion yen ($1.28 billion).
“Tightness in supply and demand of semiconductors seems to have a minor impact on exports so far,” said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.
“Export values increased greatly, by 32.2 per cent, in early and mid-april, in part in reaction to a sharp downturn in the same month last year.”
A slump in global trade due to supply chain disruptions from coronavirus lockdowns around the world delivered a heavy blow to Japan’s tradereliant economy in April last year.