The country's trade balance surprisingly fell into the red for the first time in nearly two years in January as exports significantly slowed ahead of a holiday in Asia, while imports grew amid rising commodity prices, the government said Wednesday.
The value of exports in the reporting month grew 1.4 percent from a year earlier to ¥4.97 trillion, for the 14th consecutive month of gain. But the pace of increase was much slower than the rise of 12.9 percent in December and 9.1 percent in November, given weakness in shipments to China and other Asian economies, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.
Imports expanded 12.4 percent, the 13th straight monthly increase, to ¥5.443 trillion, due largely to hikes in crude oil and other energy costs. The trade balance stood at minus ¥471.4 billion, the first deficit since March 2009.