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Amid energy shortages, a record first-half trade deficit for Japan (lots of NG and coal imports)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/amid-energy-shortages-a-record-first-half-trade-deficit-for-japan/2012/07/25/gJQA0cpK8W_story.htmlTOKYO — Japan posted its biggest first-half trade deficit on record, according to government figures released Wednesday, highlighting the economic consequences for this nuclear-averse country of importing fossil fuels to meet its energy needs.
The Finance Ministry reported a 2.92 trillion yen (or $37.3 billion) trade deficit, which reflected not only Japan’s surging need for oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), but also weakened exports to slumping markets such as Europe and China.
An uncertain recovery for Japan:?A year after the devastating earthquake and tsunami, recovery is slow on Japan’s coast, but residents endure trying conditions in the hope that, eventually, they’ll regain normal lives in functional towns.
The world’s third-largest economy has averted economic crisis this year largely because of a spike in domestic demand, spurred by reconstruction of the earthquake- and tsunami-devastated northeast.
But in the long term, Japan faces some troubling challenges: Its famed exporters — automakers and tech giants — are pinched by a global economic slowdown. Meanwhile, the country’s enduring wariness of nuclear energy has led to record imports of fossil fuels, which arrive here on hulking tankers and help prevent the nightmare scenario of blackouts during the sweltering summer.
The Finance Ministry reported a 2.92 trillion yen (or $37.3 billion) trade deficit, which reflected not only Japan’s surging need for oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), but also weakened exports to slumping markets such as Europe and China.
An uncertain recovery for Japan:?A year after the devastating earthquake and tsunami, recovery is slow on Japan’s coast, but residents endure trying conditions in the hope that, eventually, they’ll regain normal lives in functional towns.
The world’s third-largest economy has averted economic crisis this year largely because of a spike in domestic demand, spurred by reconstruction of the earthquake- and tsunami-devastated northeast.
But in the long term, Japan faces some troubling challenges: Its famed exporters — automakers and tech giants — are pinched by a global economic slowdown. Meanwhile, the country’s enduring wariness of nuclear energy has led to record imports of fossil fuels, which arrive here on hulking tankers and help prevent the nightmare scenario of blackouts during the sweltering summer.
As predicted, unfortunately.
