TOKYO: Japan ran its biggest trade deficit in a single month in eight years in January as high energy costs swelled imports and manufacturers struggled with global supply constraints, causing a decline in car shipments.
That greatly outstripped a 9.6 per cent rise in exports in the year to January, bringing the trade balance to a deficit of ¥2.19 trillion, its biggest in a single month since January 2014."Exports tend to go down in January due to seasonal factors as factory operation rates are usually low due to New Year holidays," said Takumi Tsunoda, senior economist at Shinkin Central Bank Research Institute.
That was likely in part due to slower exports and a front-loading of demand ahead of China's week-long Lunar New Year holiday that started on the last day of January.