Japan's chemical exports increased 3.9% in March

Data recently released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance showed that despite the continued weakness of the yen, Japan's chemical exports increased by 3.9% year-on-year in March, reaching 1.03 trillion yen, supported by increased exports of plastic materials.

According to data from the Ministry of Finance, Japan's plastic material exports increased by 19.3% year-on-year in March, reaching 297 billion yen. Calculated by cargo weight, the export volume of plastic materials increased by 7.6% year-on-year to 514,000 tons. In March, Japan's organic chemicals shipments fell 2.2% year-on-year to 199.4 billion yen.

On the other hand, in March, Japan's overall exports increased by 7.3% year-on-year to 9.47 trillion yen, the fourth consecutive month of growth, while imports fell by 4.9% to 9.1 trillion yen. The resulting trade surplus was about 366 billion yen, the first in three months. By destination, Japan's overall exports to the United States increased by 8.5% year-on-year, and exports to China increased by 12.6%.