CAIRO: Chinese exports to Russia snapped four months of declines and grew robustly in July, while Russian shipments to China also held up well, official customs data showed.
Shipments to sanctions-hit Russia rose 22.2 percent in July from a year earlier in dollar terms, shaking off the decline of 17 percent in June and marking the first growth since March, according to Reuters calculations based on customs data released on Sunday.
Imports growth from Russia sustained an elevated pace at 49.3 percent in July, though slower than a 56 percent gain in June and a 79.6 percent rise in May.
Japan runs first current account deficit in 5 months
Japan ran a current account deficit for the first time in five months in June as surging imports eclipsed exports, data showed on Monday, highlighting the pressure that higher energy and raw material prices are putting on the economy.
The world’s third-largest economy ran a current account deficit of 132.4 billion yen ($980 million) in June, government data showed, reversing 872 billion yen from the same month a year earlier.
The data, which marked the first monthly deficit since January, was smaller than economists’ median forecast for a 703.8 billion shortfall in a Reuters poll.
Taiwan’s July exports up
Taiwan’s July exports increased 14.2 percent year-on-year yet the government warned of uncertainty ahead.
Exports rose on sustained demand for technology products with shipments to China picking up, and while the government said the outlook was good for semiconductors it warned of growing uncertainty for the global economy.
According to the Finance Ministry, exports rose 14.2 percent in July from a year earlier to $43.32 billion. It is the second highest monthly figure on record and up for the 25th consecutive month.
That was slightly slower than the 15.2 percent rise recorded in June, but better than the 11.65 percent expansion forecast from a Reuters poll.
(With input from Reuters)
