1st LD Writethru: Japan logs goods trade surplus for 6th straight month in November amid robust exports to Asia

TOKYO, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Japan logged a goods trade surplus for a sixth straight month in November standing at 113.36 billion yen (1 billion U.S. dollars), the government said in a preliminary report on Monday.

According to the Finance Ministry, exports increased 16.2 percent from a year earlier to to 6.92 trillion yen (61.44 billion U.S. dollars) owing to solid exports of both semiconductor-related equipment and automobiles to China and the United States.

Imports, meanwhile, according to the preliminary figures and on a customs-cleared basis, were up 17.2 percent in the recording period to 6.81 trillion yen (60.47 billion U.S. dollars), with the value of crude oil imports rising to 28.3 percent, the equivalent of 634.0 billion yen (5.62 billion U.S. dollars).

To Asian countries alone, Japan's exports surged 20.4 percent to a record 3.89 trillion yen (34.54 billion U.S. dollars), while imports gained 19.7 percent to 3.46 trillion yen (30.72 billion U.S. dollars), leading to a surplus of 439.19 billion yen (3.90 billion U.S. dollars), in the recording period.

Japan's exports to China rose 25.1 percent to 1.38 trillion yen (12.25 billion U.S. dollars), while imports increased 21.6 percent to to 1.81 trillion yen (16.07 billion U.S. dollars), leading to a trade deficit of 430.98 billion yen (3.82 billion U.S. dollars), the finance ministry also said.

As for trade with the United States, exports increased 13.0 percent to 1.37 trillion yen (12.16 billion U.S. dollars), while imports were up 12.3 percent to 708.56 billion yen (6.29 billion U.S. dollars), leading to a 13.7 percent expansion of its trade surplus to to 660.05 billion yen (5.86 billion U.S. dollars), the government's latest figures showed.

With the single bloc European Union, Japan logged a trade deficit of 49.98 billion yen (443.82 million U.S. dollars), the finance ministry said. Enditem