UAE, Japan trade up by 37.58%

Japan’s bilateral trade with the United Arab Emirates continued to surge through 2011, in spite of the sluggishness in the world economy and the occurrence of earthquake, tsunami and a nuclear disaster in Japan. Value of two-way trade rose by 37.58 per cent to $50.38 billion in 2011, compared to $36.62 billion in 2010. Exports to the UAE grew by 1.82 per cent to $7,466.13 million (7.4 billion), while imports grew by 46.53 per cent to $42,912.73 million in 2011. The sizable increase in the value of imports was mainly attributed to the surge in the price of crude oils that make the most of Japan’s imports from the UAE. UAE’s position among the top trading partners of Japan in the world improved to the 9th position in 2011 from the 11th position in 2010, with a share in exports of 0.91 per cent and a share of 5.02 per cent in imports. The value of Japan’s world trade in 2011 stood at $1,678.97 billion, compared to $1,464.34 billion in 2010, an increase of 14.66. Japan’s total exports rose 6.96 per cent to $823.65 billion, while imports rose 23.19 per cent to 855.31 billion. A major feature of Japan’s world trade in 2011 was that its traditional trade surplus turned into a sizable deficit. Instead of a trade surplus of $75.75 billion in 2010, Japan had a trade deficit of $31.66 billion in 2011. AUTOMOBILE EXPORTS Japan’s automobile exports to the UAE made a fast recovery through the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2011 to exceed the levels of pre-tsunami period. However, though motor vehicles remained to be the largest single commodity of exports to the UAE, on a year-on-year basis, the export value declined by just over 9 per cent to $3,174.98 million in 2011 against $3,489.69 million in 2010. Factors such as logistical problems caused by the East Japan Earthquake and the tsunami, and to a certain extent, the unprecedented floods in Thailand causing disruption in automobile parts supply to manufacturers, and finally, the consistent rise in the value of Japanese Yen were attributed to this slide in vehicle exports. UAE was the 10th largest vehicles export market for Japan in 2011 covering 2.14 per cent of the total market coverage. USA remained to be the top market of Japanese vehicles, valuing at  $41.42 billion in 2011 China remained at the distant 2nd position in 2011 with a value of $15.50 billion worth of vehicle exports. Australia, Russia and Canada occupied the 3rd, 4th and 5th positions. Export to the UAE of general machinery surged by 37.12 per cent to $1,647.49 million in 2011 from $1,201.50 million in 2010. This surge was attributed to the increase in demand for air pumps, derricks, ship cranes, turbines, other lifting equipments, work trucks etc. Export of rubber products, comprised mainly of new tires, declined 7.80 per cent to  $513.30 million in 2011, compared to $556.76 million in 2010. Export of iron or steel products comprising mainly tubes, pipes, pipe fittings, bars, plates and sections, showed an increase of 11.01 per cent to $632.03 million against the previous year’s value of $569.33 million. IMPORTS FROM THE UAE While mineral fuels dominated Japan’s imports from the UAE, aluminium imports showed substantial increase. The value of Japan’s imports from the UAE surged 46.53 per cent to $42,912.73 million in 2011, compared to $29,285.21 million in 2010. UAE’s share in Japan’s total imports rose to 5.02 per cent in 2011 from 4.22 per cent in 2010. 98.45 per cent of imports from the UAE were consisted of mineral fuels that include crude oils, gaseous hydrocarbons and other petroleum products. The value of crude oils imported from the UAE rose by 48.83 per cent to $33,139.92 million, covering 78.44 per cent of the total imports. In terms of volume, Japan’s crude oil imports from UAE increased by 8.24 per cent to 301.05 million barrels in 2011, compared to 278.12 million barrels in 2010. The average price of crude oils surged 37.50 per cent in 2011, to $110.08 per barrel, compared to $80.06 per barrel in 2010.