Japan's July trade deficit quadrupled to 634.5 billion yen

(Central News Agency, Tokyo, 20th, comprehensive foreign news report) July trade statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance today show that Japan’s trade balance in July recorded a deficit of 634.5 billion yen. This is the third month of trade deficit, and the scale has expanded to four times compared with the same period last year. The worsening situation in the Middle East has pushed up the cost of crude oil.

Japan's "Yomiuri Shimbun" reported that the deficit in July was 634.5 billion yen, four times larger than the 156.3 billion yen in the same period last year. The rising cost of crude oil imports caused by the worsening situation in the Middle East is the main reason for this result.

Among the trends in the trade balance, imports increased significantly by 27.8%, reaching 12.1463 billion yen, a new record high. In terms of import volume, crude oil imports increased by 5.5%, which was the first increase in four months. If calculated in terms of amount, it increased by 87.8% to 1.4089 billion yen. The unit price of crude oil imports in yen per cubic meter was 78% higher than the same period last year.

By region, crude oil imports from the Middle East fell by 32.8%. Due to shipping obstruction in the Strait of Hormuz, the Japanese government and other institutions are actively promoting alternative procurement, which has increased crude oil imports from the United States by about nine times. In addition, the total global import volume of naphtha and other volatile oils decreased by 23.2%.