UAE remains top Mideast market for Japan

Abu Dhabi, Jan 3, 2013 (WAM) - The UAE maintained its position as the largest Middle East market for Japanese products in the first 10 months of 2012 while it was the second regional exporter to the Southeast Asian giant, according to official data. The figures by the government's Japanese External Trade Organisation (Jetro) showed exports to Japan by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) surged by nearly 13.7 per cent during that period because of strong oil prices. From around US$6 billion in the first 10 months of 2011, Japan's exports to the UAE soared to US$7.5 billion in the first 10 months of 2012. The UAE's exports to Japan, mostly crude oil, gas and aluminium, also swelled from around US$35.1 billion to US$36.7 billion in the same period. Analysts said the increase in Japan's exports to the UAE was mainly a result of lower dollar value against the yen and a surge in the country's imports this year because of a business upswing resulting from high public spending. The UAE's imports from Japan during January-October 2012 accounted for nearly 32 per cent of the Middle East's total imports from that the Southeast Asian industrial giant of nearly US$23.7 billion. The UAE's exports to Japan also amounted to about 25 per cent of the region's total exports to that country. The UAE has emerged as one of the largest economic partners of Japan over the past decades as it supplies that country with nearly a quarter of its oil needs. Japan is also a major investor in the UAE, mainly in the hydrocarbon sector, with such investments exceeding US$3 billion at the end of 2011. Saudi Arabia emerged as the largest Gulf exporter to Japan with a value of around US$45.5 billion in the first 10 months of 2012 compared with nearly US$41.2 billion in the same period of 2011. It was also the second largest importer from Japan, with about US$5.8 billion in the 10 months of 2012 compared to US$5.3 billion in the same period of 2011. The report showed the GCC's combined exports to Japan swelled by around 13.7 per cent to about US$131.3 billion from around US$115.8 billion in the same period. The group's imports from the Asian nation shot up by around 31 per cent to nearly US$20.7 billion from around US$15.8 billion. The surge in the exports widened the GCC's trade surplus with their main economic and commercial partner from around US$100 billion in the first 10 months of 2011 to nearly US$110.7 billion in the first 10 months of 2012. The report showed Qatar, the world's third largest gas power, emerged as the third exporter to Japan in the Middle East because of a sharp rise in its LNG sales to that market over the past few years. Its exports soared to nearly US$30.2 billion in the first 10 months from US$23.7 billion in the same period of 2011. Kuwait's exports to Japan, mostly crude oil, grew to around US$12.5 billion from US$10.4 billion while those of Oman rose to about US$6 billion from US$4.1 billion. Exports by Bahrain, a small trade partner of Japan with limited hydrocarbon resources, declined to US$411 million from US$488 million. But its imports from Japan swelled to US$661 million from around US$364 million, according to Jetro. Massive oil supplies have kept the GCC-Japan trade balance largely in favour of the 31-year-old Gulf economic and political group, with the surplus peaking at nearly US$117 billion in 2008. It stood at about US$122 billion last year. Japan gets more than 80 per cent of its oil needs from the GCC, Iran, Iraq and other Middle Eastern crude producers. Saudi Arabia and the UAE alone supply it with more than two million bpd, nearly half its total oil imports. Besides crude, the GCC's exports to Japan include aluminium, natural gas, LNG and petroleum products, with the bulk of the aluminium supplies coming from Dubai and Bahrain. The GCC's imports from that country comprise mainly electronics, vehicles, machinery, and other industrial products. In 2011, a sharp increase in oil prices boosted exports of goods by the UAE and the other GCC members to Japan by nearly 40 per cent. From around US$101.9 billion in 2010, the exports rocketed to nearly US$141.1 billion in 2011. But Japan's exports to the GCC declined to around US$19.56 billion from US$20.02 billion in the same period. The higher growth in GCC exports sharply widened the group's surplus in trade with Japan by nearly 49.5 per cent to US$122.5 billion from US$81.9 billion. - Emirates News Agency, WAM