Tag Archives: Japan

Oil Prices Rise on Increased Demand

Energy News, , , , ,

The price of crude oil futures climbed a bit on Monday as demand from Asia and the US edged up as well.

Brent crude surged by 2 cents a barrel to $65.39 at 03:12 GMT. US crude showed a steeper climb, leaving it a bit below Brent crude, at $59.86 per barrel.

Energy Aspects, a London-based publication which discusses  the energy markets, commented on the increased price of oil:

“Global oil demand continues to surprise to the upside, with April data showing no signs of slowdown despite a pick-up in prices.”

Japan’s Ministry of Finance said that crude oil imports to Japan increased by 9.1 percent to 3.62 million barrels per day in April, compared to one year earlier. China hit a new record of crude imports, reaching 7.4 million barrels per day in April. That surge is despite China’s slowing economy which is offset by vigorous car sales.

“We expect Chinese imports to be high in H2 15, potentially averaging 7.5 million barrels per day. This is due to the start-up of 39 mb (million barrels) of commercial storage, five SPR (strategic petroleum reserve) sites and linefill for Kunming refinery—buying for which is ongoing we believe, even though the refinery won’t start up till early 2016,” Energy Aspects said.

On the other side of the globe the United States is now entering its peak season for driving with the Memorial Day weekend just coming to an end. According to the American Automobile Association, road travel in the US is expected to reach a ten-year high over the weekend, tightly correlated with higher oil use.

Japan Posts Record Deficit for Third Year

Trade, ,

The Japanese Finance Ministry released their figures for 2013 showing that Japan had a record trade deficit, exceeding even the previous year’s numbers.

For the first time in three years Japan posted an year-on-year rise in the value of exports, mostly caused by the continued loss in value of the yen compared to the dollar, with a simultaneous uptick in the value of imports.

Last year was the third year in a row that Japan had a trade deficit, the first time since data on this information became available in 1979. Last year’s trade deficit totaled 11.47 trillion yen ($112 billion). That number represents a giant increase of 65.3 percent over the previous year’s record of 6.94 trillion yen.

Japan’s trade with the United States is the highest for all countries and regions. The total exports from Japan to the US were up 15.6 percent, to 12.93 trillion yen. Part of that increase came from the sale of Japanese cars to US markets.

ThyssenKrupp Sells US Steel Plant To Two Buyers

News, , , , ,

The Alabama-based but German-owned steel plant ThyssenKrupp Steel USA will be sold to two competing buyers for $1.55 billion.

The sale was finalized after an extended period of competition for the purchase between ArceloMittal, headquartered in Luxembourg; and Japan’s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. In the end ThyssenKrupp Steel, the German owner of the plant, agreed to sell to both companies.

The sale is expected to benefit Nippon and ArceloMittal by expanding their energy and car manufacturing businesses.

ThyssenKrupp decided to on-load their US steel plant when the price of steel fell, leading to financial loss for the company as well as large write-downs for the lowered value of the plant.

Nikkei Climbs on News of Improving US Employment Figures

Economy, , , ,

The Japanese and other Asian markets reacted positively to better than expected employment data coming from the US last month. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225, the largest market in the region, expanded by 3.8 percent to reach 13,363.18. Also influencing the Asian markets were promises from the Japanese prime minister that he was introducing tax reductions.

The price of a barrel of oil was sustained above $96 as investors’ fears that the US Federal Reserve would end its economic stimulus program were reduced.

The US Labor Department announced that the United States, which is still the world’s largest economy, added 175,000 jobs to its economy in May, about 10,000 more than had been predicted.

“The relief from U.S. jobs was palpable,” said Mizuho Corporate Bank in a report. It said gains were “gentle enough to avert concerns” that the Fed might be tempted to halt its “quantitative easing.”

Sony Sales Up After Chinese-Japanese Dispute Recedes Into Past

Companies, Consumerism, Japan, , , ,
Nobuki Kurita

According to Sony Corp’s China head Nobuki Kurita, the giant consumer electronic company’s business in China is “more or less” back to normal levels after recent protests in China against Japan’s actions related to a group of disputed islands.

Last September saw a significant decrease in sales of Sony products in China as calls for a boycott of Sony reverberated in response to the nationalization of two islands in a group of islands under dispute in the East China Sea. In China these islands are called Diaoyu, and in Japan they are referred to as the Senkaku Islands. Japan nationalized these islands after they were purchased from private owners.

Because of the dispute relations between China and Japan were highly strained, adversely affecting sales of Japanese products in China. Kurita however believes that Japanese business in China should completely recover, showing a strong surge in the coming three years.

“My general impression is business conditions have more or less returned to the pre-crisis environment,” he told a media briefing at a Sony store in eastern Beijing.