Japan's September Merchandise Trade Balance: Summary

By Minh Bui

Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Following is a summary of Japan's merchandise trade balance from the Ministry of Finance in Tokyo.

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Sept. Aug. July June May April March
2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008
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-----------------Not Seasonally Adjusted Yen Level-----------------
Balance 95.1 -327.6 85.5 121.9 357.8 475.2 1,109.0
3-mo. avg -49.0 -40.1 188.4 318.3 647.3 849.2 660.8
Exports 7,367.8 7,053.6 7,628.7 7,153.7 6,809.0 6,891.4 7,682.5
Imports 7,272.7 7,381.2 7,543.2 7,031.9 6,451.2 6,416.2 6,573.6
--------------------Year-on-Year Percent Change--------------------
Balance -94.1% n/a -87.5% -90.2% -9.5% -47.4% -30.8%
Exports 1.5% 0.3% 8.0% -1.8% 3.7% 3.9% 2.3%
Imports 28.8% 17.3% 18.2% 16.4% 4.5% 12.0% 11.2%
---------------------Three-Month Percent Change--------------------
Balance -115.4% -106.2% -77.8% -51.8% 11.6% 63.1% -25.2%
Exports 5.7% 2.1% 0.2% -1.0% 2.7% 2.1% -5.1%
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Sept. Aug. July June May April March
2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008
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Imports 11.5% 12.9% 10.7% 4.3% 1.9% -2.8% -2.4%
-------------------Seasonally Adjusted Yen Level-------------------
Balance -33.0 -155.5 135.0 86.0 500.3 596.0 654.2
3-mo. avg -17.8 21.8 240.4 394.1 583.5 617.4 698.1
Exports 7,175.4 7,271.2 7,340.4 7,231.7 7,178.7 6,914.3 7,131.1
Imports 7,208.3 7,426.6 7,205.4 7,145.7 6,678.4 6,318.3 6,476.9
-------------------Month-on-Month Percent Change-------------------
Balance -78.8% -215.2% 57.0% -82.8% -16.1% -8.9% 8.6%
Exports -1.3% -0.9% 1.5% 0.7% 3.8% -3.0% 1.0%
Imports -2.9% 3.1% 0.8% 7.0% 5.7% -2.4% 0.3%
---------------------Three-Month Percent Change--------------------
Balance -104.5% -96.3% -61.1% -43.5% -13.9% -18.0% -14.9%
Exports 2.2% 2.9% 3.1% -0.6% -1.3% -2.3% -0.3%
Imports 8.4% 11.8% 9.2% 4.1% 0.0% -0.5% 1.6%
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NOTE: Levels are in billions of yen. Three-month percentage changes are calculated as the three-month average change from the prior three- month average.

SOURCE: Ministry of Finance

To contact the reporter of this story: Minh Bui in Tokyo at mbui@bloomberg.net