According to the provisional data released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance, Japan's total exports in August this year came to a value of JPY 4.51 trillion (approx. US$49.77 billion), decreasing by 36 percent year on year, and down 6.87 percent month on month. Meanwhile, the country's imports in August amounted to JPY 4.33 trillion (approx. US$47.74 billion), down 41.3 percent year on year and decreasing by 3.15 percent month on month. Thus, Japan's foreign trade balance for August this year reached JPY 185.72 billion (approx. US$2.05 billion).
In August, Japan's total iron and steel product exports came to about 3.38 million metric tons, up 3.5 percent year on year, totaling a value of JPY 246.32 billion (approx. US$2.72 billion), 43.3 percent lower than the August 2008 level. At the same time, Japanese iron and steel imports in August this year amounted to 344,211 metric tons, down 38.9 percent year on year, totaling a value of JPY 35.31 billion (approx. US$390 million), down 66.9 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, also in August this year, Japanese motor vehicle exports reached 343,545 units, down 45.9 percent year on year, while motor vehicle imports totaled 14,400 units, down 41.3 percent. The country's ship exports totaled 1,044,962 gross tons, decreasing by 13.3 percent compared to August 2008.