TOKYO, February 19 /TASS/. Trade turnover between Japan and Russia decreased by 8.77% in January compared to the same period last year, amounting to 92.564 bln yen (approximately $609 mln), according TASS calculations based on statistics published by Japan’s Ministry of Finance.
Japanese exports to Russia grew by 7.9%, driven by a significant increase in supplies of plastics (up 1,610%), paper (up 28.6%), and automobile parts (up 11%). However, car exports, which account for around 50% of Japan’s total exports to Russia, dropped by 18.9% to 7,710 units.
Other declines in exports to Russia include medical products (down 30.9%), rubber (down 40.3%), generators (down 27.5%), and audio-visual equipment (down 18.5%).
On the other hand, Japanese imports from Russia fell by 11.7%. This decline was primarily due to reduced purchases of liquefied natural gas (down 12.4%) and coal (down 45.4%), which together make up 71.4% of Japan’s imports from Russia. Imports of Russian cereals plummeted by 95.9%, while purchases of pig iron and steel products saw a dramatic decrease of 99.5%.
However, Japan’s imports of fish and seafood from Russia rose by 11.8%, as did imports of vegetables (up 232.8%) and non-ferrous metals (up 109.6%).