TOKYO – Fresh official data released Thursday by Japan’s Ministry of Finance reveals a far stronger-than-anticipated performance from the country’s export sector in April, with shipments jumping 14.8% year-on-year to extend an unbroken growth streak to eight months. The surprisingly robust results come even as global energy markets grapple with major supply disruptions tied to the ongoing war in Iran, which has constricted passage through the critical Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil transit chokepoint.
The single biggest driver of April’s export surge was the global artificial intelligence boom, which has sent demand for cutting-edge semiconductors skyrocketing. By value, Japanese semiconductor exports surged nearly 42% compared to April last year, turning this high-tech segment into the primary engine of the country’s trade growth. The AI boom has already generated unexpected windfalls for a wide range of leading high-tech manufacturers across Asia, and Japanese chip producers are no exception to this trend. Beyond semiconductors, solid gains in exports of medical products, paper goods, and electrical machinery also helped lift the overall April trade reading.
When it comes to major trading partners, the data shows exports to China climbed 15.5% year-on-year, while shipments to the United States grew by a more modest 9.5%. On the import side, inbound goods from China rose 15%, and imports from the U.S. jumped a sharp 23% compared to the same period last year.
Overall, the country’s total imports increased 9.7% year-on-year in April, but the mix shifted dramatically amid the Iran war-driven energy supply crunch. Japan, which relies on imports to meet almost all of its crude oil demand, saw the value of its oil imports plunge by nearly 50% from a year earlier, while liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports fell 20%. These drops stem directly from supply disruptions caused by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the key transport route for Persian Gulf energy exports.
To counter the sharp drop in available oil supplies, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has authorized the release of emergency stockpiles from the country’s national strategic reserves. Even with this policy intervention, however, persistent shortfalls have pushed domestic energy prices higher, disrupting production of oil-derived industrial inputs such as naphtha.
Global oil market pressures have been amplified by exchange rate movements: Brent crude, which traded around $70 per barrel before the outbreak of the Iran war, now tops $100 per barrel. At the same time, a sustained weakening of the Japanese yen has made dollar-denominated energy imports even more expensive for Japanese businesses and consumers.
Despite these ongoing energy headwinds, Japan’s overall trade account moved back into surplus in April, hitting 301.9 billion yen (equivalent to roughly $1.9 billion), a reversal of the deficit recorded in the same month one year prior. In March, the country had posted a much larger trade surplus of nearly 643 billion yen.