Tokyo: Japan’s exports soared 14.8 per cent in April from the same month a year earlier, according to Finance Ministry data released on Thursday, May 21, showing that its trade remained robust despite worries over supplies of oil and gas due to the war in Iran.

Exports were stronger than expected, rising for the eighth straight month as shipments of semiconductors surged nearly 42 per cent by value from the previous year. The booming demand for computer chips and other infrastructure needed to power artificial intelligence has yielded a windfall for many high-tech Asian manufacturers.

Imports rose 9.7 per cent from a year earlier.

The trade balance shifted to a surplus of 301.9 billion yen (USD 1.9 billion) from a deficit in the same month the year before. Japan recorded a surplus of nearly 643 billion yen in March.

Higher exports of medical products, paper goods and electrical machinery also contributed to the stronger export performance in April.

Exports to China rose 15.5 per cent, and exports to the US rose 9.5 per cent. Imports from China climbed 15 per cent while those from the US jumped 23 per cent, the data show.

While overall imports rose, Japan’s oil imports fell nearly 50 per cent by value from a year earlier, while imports of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, dropped 20 per cent. Supplies have been crimped by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the main transport route for exports from the Persian Gulf, due to the war in Iran.

Japan imports almost all of its oil, and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has sought to offset lower supplies by ordering the release of some national oil reserves. However, shortfalls have pushed prices higher and also impacted the production of oil-related products such as naphtha.

The price of Brent crude, trading at USD 70 a barrel before the war in Iran, has shot above USD 100, and a weakening yen has made imports of oil denominated in dollars still more costly for Japan.