Middle East Crisis Seen Affecting Japan Trade Balance

Tokyo, April 23 (Jiji Press)--The impact of the ongoing Middle East crisis on Japan's trade balance is expected to become visible in earnest in data for April onward.

The country's preliminary customs-cleared trade statistics for March, announced by the Finance Ministry on Wednesday, showed that the effect of a surge in crude oil prices reflecting the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz was not large.

It remains unclear, however, whether progress will be made in peace negotiations between the United States and Iran.

An economist warns that Japan's trade deficit, which shrank to some 1.7 trillion yen in fiscal 2025, may balloon to about 15 trillion yen in fiscal 2026 if the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for Middle East crude oil, remains closed for an extended period of time.

In March, overall imports from the Middle East dropped 10.7 pct from a year before. Crude oil imports, which account for 80 pct of the total imports from the region, fell 5.6 pct to 706.5 billion yen. In volume terms, crude oil imports from the Middle East increased 4.5 pct to 10.45 million kiloliters, continuing to make up over 90 pct of Japan's total crude imports.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]