Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Japan’s Exports Fall a More-Than-Expected 2.2% After Quake
Japan's exports fell more than economists expected in March as shipments of automobiles tumbled, declines analysts said may worsen as companies struggle to restore facilities and output in the wake of a record earthquake.Overseas shipments declined 2.2 percent from a year earlier, the first drop since November 2009. The median estimate of 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 1.1 percent drop.Car exports fell 28 percent from a year earlier and shipments for electronic devices also slid as the disaster prevented companies from transporting goods. Automakers including Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. were forced to reduce production after the March 11 disaster.
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3 comments:
It should not be seen as an extreme surprise that exports fell 1.1 percent of what economists speculated. Given the impact of the earthquake, japan should be satisfied with this minor decrease in production and exports. However, we are just beginning to see these implications and there is no doubt that these numbers will increase in the future.
I agree that this decline in exports should be expected. In the future, I expect to see the decline in exports fall much more than what has been recorded so far. With an estimated $300 billion emergency reform deemed necessary for the economy to recover, it seems that the economy is in for troubled times ahead, as they have only been able to finance $50 billion of this so far.
I'm not surprised by this article. Taken the severity of the disaster into consideration, i think Japan is doing relatively well in its economy so far. Right now Japan is rehabilitating and recovering from the disaster and the government has taken efforts to support it, such as by increasing the sales tax and using emergency budgets. Hopefully Japan can raise some capital via exports to support the recovery as well.
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