Propelled by increased exports of motor vehicles, Japan maintained its robust performance in the trade with the U.A.E. in 2013.
In the overall trade, U.A.E. was Japan's 8th largest trading partner in the world in 2013, behind China, USA, South Korea, Australia, Taiwan, Thailand and Saudi Arabia.
By meeting nearly 23 per cent of the total crude oil requirements of Japan, U.A.E. remained to be Japan's 2nd largest supplier of crude oils after Saudi Arabia, which covered 31.83 per cent of Japan's total crude oil imports.
Mineral fuels formed 98.5 per cent of Japan's imports from the U.A.E. in 2013. The remaining small portion was comprised of semi-finished aluminium, scrap metals, precious stones and metals, electrical machinery, readymade garments, plastics, backing related goods, perfumes and cosmetics. The value of imports from the U.A.E. fell by 3.3 per cent to US$42.53 billion in 2013, from US$43.31 billion in 2012.U.A.E. was Japan's 5th largest supplier of products in general, covering 5.11 per cent of her total imports.
The value of Japan's crude oil imports from the U.A.E. amounts to 79.39 per cent of the total value of Japan's imports from the U.A.E. in 2013. In terms of volume, Japan's crude oil imports from U.A.E. increased by 3.23 per cent to 301.43 million barrels in 2013, compared to 291.99 million barrels in 2012.
Japan's total import of crude oils from the world over was amounted to 1,328.60 million barrels in 2013, compared to 1,336.34 million barrels in 2012, a decrease of 0.59 per cent. Saudi Arabia remained to be Japan's top supplier of crude oils in 2013, supplying Japan with a total of 422.9 million barrels of crude oils.
Japan's major exports to the U.A.E. were motor vehicles, general machinery, electrical machinery, iron and steel, rubber products, textiles, plastic products, beverages and glass products. However, sluggishness in the export of machinery and iron and steel products in 2013 reduced the value of Japan's exports to the U.A.E. by 5.14 per cent to US$8.5 billion from 8.9 billion in the previous year. Albeit, the major category of Japan's exports - automobiles — remained stable and registered an increase by 3.23 per cent to US$4.64 billion, compared to US$4.49 billion in the previous year. The coverage of vehicle exports from Japan to the U.A.E. rose to 54.56 per cent of the total exports in 2013, which was 50.16 per cent in 2012 and 42.52 per cent in 2011.
Exports of passenger motor cars, the largest single component of exports to the U.A.E. from Japan, rose by 5.27 per cent to US$3,080 million in 2013, from US$2,926 million in the previous year. Among the passenger motor cars, export of higher capacity passenger cars — above 3000 cc — increased by nearly 8 per cent to US$2,244 million from US$2,080 million. Export of motor trucks rose by 2.73 per cent to US$791 million from US$770 million. A notable surge in the export of small trucks of less than 5 ton capacity was registered in 2013, with a growth rate of 15 per cent to US$227 million from 197 million in the previous year.
The value of general machinery exported to the U.A.E. declined by nearly 20 per cent to US$1.2 billion in 2013, from US$1.5 billion in the previous year. Major items that showed a decrease in exports were bulldozers, ship derricks, liquid pumps and air pumps. At the same time, some of the items that showed an increase in exports were printing machinery, computers and their parts.
Export of electrical goods fell by nearly 28 per cent to reach US$445 million in 2013 from US$616 million in the previous year. Major items that fell in exports were electrical transmission apparatus, insulated cables and wires, carbon electrodes, electrical generating sets etc. On the other side, exports of ignition equipment for generators, electrical switches, storage batteries etc. showed considerable increase in exports.
Some of the other goods that saw a reasonable increase in exports were plastic products, textiles of man-made staple fibres, organic chemicals, mineral fuels, precious stones and metals, and photographic and cinematographic materials. Items that posted a decline in exports were iron and steel products, rubber products such as new tyres, textiles of man-made filament fibres, stones, plasters and cement etc.
Source: The Gulf Today