TOKYO, September 18. /TASS/. Trade turnover between Japan and Russia in August 2024 increased by 23.81% compared to the same period in 2023, to 105.59 billion yen ($743 million at the current exchange rate), according to TASS calculations based on statistics published by the Japanese Ministry of Finance.
Exports from Japan to Russia increased by 17.9%, to 27.4 billion yen ($192.9 million), while imports from Russia increased by 26% to 78.1 billion yen ($550 million).
The main categories in trade turnover are Japanese cars (about 60% of all exports from Japan to Russia) and Russian energy products (about 70% of all imports from Russia). Deliveries for both of these indicators increased last month, which led to an increase in trade between the two countries.
This is the first increase in trade between Japan and Russia since August 2022, when the indicator increased due to the growth of world fuel prices, which led to a noticeable hike in the cost of importing Russian energy products.
In August 2024, Japan’s imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia went up by 49% year-on-year. LNG accounts for 69% of all trade between the two countries. Purchases of Russian coal decreased by 23.2%. Japan did not import oil from Russia during the mentioned period.
In August 2024, Japanese exports of passenger cars to Russia grew by 25.6% year-on-year. The Japanese side increased exports of spare parts and components for vehicles to Russia by 19.8%.
Throughout the past year, there was a significant reduction in the supply of cars and spare parts to Russia amid sanctions that came into force on August 9, 2023, prohibiting the export of gasoline and diesel cars with engines larger than 1.9 liters, as well as hybrid cars, to Russia.
This is the first increase in car exports from Japan since the introduction of these sanctions.
In August, fish imports from Russia to Japan increased by 4.5%, while imports of cast iron and steel products decreased by 68.4%. According to statistics, grain supplies from Russia soared 145 times, to 6,300 metric tons. However, this situation is due to the fact that in August last year, there were practically no purchases of this type of product.