Japan logs 585 bil. yen trade surplus in Feb. on car, chip demand #JapanFinance

Japan logged a 584.51 billion yen ($3.9 billion) trade surplus in February, returning to the black for the first time in two months, driven by strong auto and semiconductor-related demand, government data showed Wednesday.

The surplus was the largest since March 2021 as exports surged 11.4 percent from a year earlier to 9.19 trillion yen, marking the fifth consecutive monthly growth and hitting a record for February, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.

Major items boosting exports were cars to the United States, chip-making machinery to Taiwan and electronics parts to Hong Kong.

Imports edged down 0.7 percent to 8.61 trillion yen, marking the first decline in three months, weighed down by a decline in shipments of crude oil from the United Arab Emirates and falling prices of coal from Australia, the ministry said.

By region, Japan had a 918.85 billion yen trade surplus with the United States, up 29.3 percent on year and hitting a record for February, as exports jumped 10.5 percent to 1.9 trillion yen while imports declined 2.7 percent to 985.88 billion yen.

Although U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to significantly raise tariffs on imported cars and other goods, a ministry official said there was no clear indication that companies rushed to export their products in the reporting month.

Koki Akimoto, an economist at Daiwa Institute of Research, said auto demand rebounded after weakening partly due to the massive wildfires in California in January, adding that attention should be paid to whether the upbeat trend will continue.

“Due to various factors, including planned auto tariffs on Mexico and Canada, predicting the outlook for Japan’s car exports to the United States has become difficult,” Akimoto said, noting that automobile shipments are a key component of the Asian nation’s trade.

With China, Japan remained in the red for the 47th straight month, logging a deficit of 186.8 billion yen, shrinking 57.4 percent from the year before, with shipments to the country gaining 14.1 percent to 1.54 trillion yen and imports falling 3.5 percent to 1.73 trillion yen.

China-bound exports in the reporting month expanded as this year’s Lunar New Year holiday began in January, unlike last year when it started in February, the official said.

Japan’s trade surplus with the rest of Asia, including China, more than quadrupled from a year earlier to 887.17 billion yen, returning to the black for the first time in two months, helped by solid car and chip-linked shipments.

A deficit of 222.48 billion yen was reported with the European Union, remaining in the red for the 13th consecutive month, amid weak demand for automobiles.

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