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Japanese earthquake and tsunami causes fall in exports

20 April 2011 10:55 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. Japan’s exports fell in March at a faster pace than economists expected, in a sign that shipments will continue to weaken and hurt economic growth after last month’s earthquake and tsunami sparked a nuclear crisis and disrupted supply chains for many manufacturers, Reuters reported.

The data offers the first glimpse of how the supply side has struggled since the natural disaster that struck Japan’s northeast coast on March 11, and it suggests Tokyo’s trade balance will swing to a deficit as some companies struggle with a shortage of electricity and needed parts.

Japan’s economy is likely to contract in the second quarter and then resume growing in the third quarter as efforts to rebuild the northeast take hold. But damage to supply chains and factory output could linger, depriving the export-focused country of a vital contribution to gross domestic product and setting the stage for further easing by the central bank.

Exports dropped 7.7 percent from February on a seasonally-adjusted basis. This was the biggest month-on-month fall since January 2009.

Exports of cars tumbled 27.8 percent from a year earlier, making the biggest contribution to the decline in overall exports. Semiconductors and electronics fell 6.9 percent from a year ago.

The trade balance came to a surplus of 196.5 billion yen ($2.38 billion), much less than the median estimate for a 493.6 billion yen surplus.