Japan's trade deficit edges down in Nov. as crude oil dives

Japan logged a good trade deficit of 891.9 billion yen (about 7.66 billion U.S. dollars) in November, down 31.5 percent from the previous year, government data showed Wednesday.

Though the trade balance remained in the red for the 29th straight month, the longest period since comparable data became available in January 1979, the deficit reading shrank by nearly a third, said the Finance Ministry, attributing the reasons to lower bills for oil imports and higher exports.

According to the ministry, Japan's imports in the reporting period dropped 1.7 percent on yearly basis to 7,080.7 billion yen (60.67 billion dollars), marking the first decline in three months, while exports rose for the third straight month, up 4.9 percent to 6,188.9 billion yen (53.03 billion dollars), helped by the recent sharp depreciation of the yen.

Average oil prices plummeted 19.5 percent to 90.7 dollars per barrel in November, the lowest since December 2012, while the yen weakened 13.2 percent from the previous year in the same period to an average of 111.43 yen to the dollar.

Shipments to the United States gained 6.8 percent to 1,208.3 billion yen, though imports declined 3.3 percent to 626.2 billion yen.

Exports to China, Japan's biggest trade partner, climbed 0.9 percent to 1,151.6 billion yen, and imports gained 3.9 percent to 1,748.4 billion yen.

Shipments to the European Union were down 1.3 percent to 591.7 billion yen, marking the first drop in 18 months, but imports rose 2.4 percent to 682.0 billion yen.