Japan’s chemical exports rise by 10% in Dec, overall shipments up 2%

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Japan’s chemical exports rose by 10.0% year on year in December 2020 to yen (Y) 833.9bn as overall shipments abroad rose for the first time in two years, official data showed on Thursday.

Japan’s overall exports rose by 2.0% year on year in December to Y6,706bn, while imports were down by 11.6% at Y5,955bn, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.

The country’s exports of organic chemicals fell by 10.1% year on year to Y136.6bn while shipments of plastic materials were up by 12.8% at Y253.6bn.

In volume terms, exports of plastic materials rose by 8.9% year on year to 594,908 tonnes.

Japan’s overall exports to China, its largest trading partner, rose by 10.2% year on year in December while shipments to the US were down by 0.7%.