2018.02.1822:52:00UTC+00Japan Export Growth Accelerates in January

Japanese exports increased for the fourth straight month in January as shipments to Asian and western Europe grew.

Exports climbed 12.2 percent year on year in January, figures according to the Ministry of Finance. Exports increased 9.3 percent in December.

Outbound shipments to Asia were up 16 percent while those to western Europe rose 20.8 percent. Imports also increased in January, climbing 7.9 percent year on year, short of the 8.3 increase percent forecast by economists.

U.S.-bound shipments were 1.2 percent higher in the year to January, led by steel, batteries and medicines, while car shipments declined 3.9 percent. The small rise in U.S.-bound exports followed a 3.0 percent gain in the previous month.

Those numbers resulted in a trade deficit of ¥943.4 billion ($8.9 billion).

Economists expect exports will continue to expand in the coming months, led by demand for the semiconductor-related products that lifted exports in 2017.

Analysts are also wary about a rising yen as well as the U.S. stance towards protectionism ahead of the mid-term elections later this year, and potential effects on Japan's exports of cars and other products.

A strong yen erodes profits at Japanese manufacturers and could hurt the otherwise buoyant economy, which posted an eighth consecutive quarter of growth in October-December.

The yen was flat against the dollar at ¥106.31 following the publication of the trade figures.