Japan trade surplus at 18-month high
22 Oct 2009
Japan's trade surplus in September was the largest since March 2008, supported by a steady recovery in exports, the finance ministry said today.
The trade surplus was registered for the eighth straight month, up 472.3 per cent from a year earlier to 520.64 billion yen, with both exports and imports recovering to the highest levels this year, the ministry said in a preliminary report.
It was the eighth consecutive month that Japan has posted a trade surplus.
On a year-to-year basis, exports fell 30.7 per cent to 5,104.72 billion yen after a drop of 36 per cent seen in August and declines of more than 40 per cent earlier in the year.
But the amount in terms of value was the largest since last November.
Exports of automobiles were still down 42.2 per cent in September and steel was down 44.3 per cent.
