Japan's Trade Surplus Plunges 79%, Will Turn Negative in April

NHK reports that Japan's trade surplus plunged an astonishing 79 percent in March vs March 2010.  As the earthquake/ tsunami only affected 3 weeks of March, April's numbers will be much worse.  Gold and silver will continue to respond as the ultimate safe-haven currencies they are.

From NHK:

Japan's trade surplus plunges 79 percent

With the March 11th earthquake and tsunami hurting production and exports, Japan's trade surplus for the month plunged 79% in yen terms from the same month last year.




The Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report on Wednesday that the trade surplus was about 2.4 billion dollars in March.

Exports totaled 70.7 billion dollars, 2.2 percent lower than in the same month last year, and marked the first decline in 16 months.

Growing exports had been driving the economy before the quake struck. But after March 11, exports such as cars and semiconductors tumbled as supply chains and production lines were affected by the disaster.
Imports grew nearly 12 percent to 68.3 billion dollars, mainly due to rising fuel prices.

Japan's finance ministry says as a result the trade balance will turn negative in April. It says production continues to be stalled, and that demand for resources will be high in the aftermath of the disaster in northern Japan.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011 14:03 +0900 (JST)