Japan registers record trade deficit for first half of 2013

Japan logged a 4,843.8 billion yen goods trade deficit for the six months period through June, the biggest on record for any half-year period, the government said Wednesday. During the January-June period, the value of imports advanced 9. 2 percent on year to 38,801.2 billion yen, while exports increased 4.2 percent to 33,957.4 billion yen on the back of a weakening yen, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report. The yen weakened against the U.S. dollar by 18.9 percent from a year earlier in the January-June period, according to the report. Shipments to China, Japan's biggest trade partner, fell 0.6 percent to 5,837.9 billion yen, while imports from China to Japan grew 11.4 percent to 8,110.6 billion yen. In June, Japan's trade deficit stood at 180.8 billion yen, the 12th straight month of deficit. The figures were measured on a customs-cleared basis.