Japan's exports from March 11, when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, through the end of the month dropped by 9.7 percent year on year, according to provisional trade statistics released by the Ministry of Finance on April 20.
Japan's exports from March 11, when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, through the end of the month dropped by 9.7 percent year on year, according to provisional trade statistics released by the Ministry of Finance on April 20.
The ministry attributed the plunge to manufacturers' halts in domestic production and a slowdown in supply of parts due to the earthquake and tsunami.
During the period, production of automobiles, semiconductor parts and printer components were particularly affected nationwide, causing a decrease in shipments.
Even though exports have been recovering since the global financial crisis in autumn 2008, the disaster reversed the trend.
The value of exports in the entire month plummeted by 2.2 percent to 5.866 trillion yen ($70.8 billion) from a year earlier. It was the first time that exports plunged year on year in 16 months.
By products, year-on-year exports of automobiles dropped by 27.8 percent, auto parts by 4.9 percent, and semiconductors and other electronic components by 6.9 percent.
By area, U.S.-bound exports dropped by 3.4 percent, while exports to China increased by 3.8 percent.
Japan's trade surplus in March was 196.5 billion yen, a decline by 78.9 percent year on year.
All car manufacturers temporarily halted domestic production following the earthquake and tsunami. Domestic automobile production in the month is expected to drop 50 percent year on year.
The production capacity remains 50 percent of normal. Production is expected to remain low through the summer due to a shortage of parts, such as semiconductors used for engine control systems.
Vehicle exports in coming months are also expected to continue to remain in negative growth year on year.
Shoei Utsuda, chairman of Japan Foreign Trade Council Inc. and Mitsui & Co. chairman, said on April 20 that the March 11 quake and the aftermath caused an unprecedented sharp decline and will cause exports to tumble in April.
"Exports in March had been favorable by early March," he said. "I believe it was as sharp a decline as ever."
Referring to the crisis at the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, he said, "I hope it will be stabilized by May or June. Decline will be much greater in April."
Meanwhile, the value of imports in March was 5.6695 trillion yen and marked a year-on-year increase 15 months in a row.