Japan logs 57.3 billion yen trade surplus in Feb., helped by chip exports
Japan logged a trade surplus of 57.3 billion yen ($361 million) in February, returning to the black for the first time in two months, helped by a rise in chip exports to other Asian countries, government data showed Wednesday, Kyodo reports.
Exports rose 4.2 percent to 9.57 trillion yen, up for the sixth consecutive month, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.
Imports increased 10.2 percent from a year earlier to 9.51 trillion yen on Japanese demand for chips and other electronic parts, the report said.
The results reflected developments before the launch of the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran at the end of February, a ministry official said.
As written before, Japan's economy expanded an annualized real 1.3 percent in the October-December quarter, upgraded from an initially reported increase of 0.2 percent, driven up by stronger business investment and private spending.