Japan’s chemicals exports rise by 28.5% in Aug, total shipments up 26.2%

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Japan’s chemicals exports rose by 28.5% year on year to Yen (Y) 850.8bn  in August, supporting the overall growth in shipments abroad, official data showed on Thursday.

Japan’s exports rose by 26.2% year on year to Y6.61tr while imports were up by 44.7% at Y7.24tr, data from the Ministry of Finance (MOF) showed.

The country’s exports of organic chemicals rose by 26.7% year on year to Y153.4bn in August while shipments of plastic materials were up by 27.6% at Y240.5bn.

On a volume basis, exports of plastic materials were down by 1.7% year on year at 477,772 tonnes.

Exports of motor vehicles fell by 1.1% year on year to 359,370 units in August.

Overall shipments to China rose by 12.6% year on year in August while exports to the US were up by 22.8%.