Omani Oil Exports to Japan in 2009: Report

Japan says its trade with oil-rich GCC suffered massively last year due to plummeting oil prices in the international markets and the global recession, but adds the outlook for the current year is bright. Japanese passenger car exports to the region fell in 2009 but the exports picked more than 104% in the first five months of this year as compared to the corresponding period in 2009.

Japanese trade with the GCC dipped more than 40% to US$98.3 billion last year, thanks to the global recession and low crude rates. The trade volume was much higher at US$171.7 billion in 2008. Thuse trade with the UAE, in particular, fell in 2009 by as much as 51.09%. However, Japanese trade with Qatar, its third largest partner in the GCC, fell by a lower (37.8%) to US$17.6 billion, as compared to the region as a whole.

The drop was due to 43.1% reduction in crude oil rates as energy constituted 53.7% of total trade between Doha and Tokyo.

Japanese exports of project-related machinery and textiles to Qatar, on the other hand, rose but transport machinery's exports fell. Both, Japan's overall imports from and exports to the GCC suffered significantly in 2009, figures released by Dubai-based Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) suggest.

Imports were down 44.02% to US$80.72 billion, while exports shrank 36.28% to US$17.56 billion. Crude oil accounted for a lion' share of the Japanese-GCC trade at 63.3% of the total. Exports of Japanese color TV sets and video camera recorders to the region have taken the maximum beating as they declined an incredible 85.2% and 41.6%, respectively.

JETRO said while most project-related machinery and equipment maintained their high export levels, exports of electrical home appliances declined during the year. Passenger car exports to the region also suffered, but textile exports remained firm. Saudi Arabia and the UAE remain Japan's first two largest trade partners in the region.

Japan's imports from the GCC covered 14.6% of its total imports from the world over, while its exports to the region accounted for barely three percent of its total exports. Some 78.4 % of Japanese exports to the region comprised machinery and equipment. JETRO said the outlook in 2010 of Japan-GCC trade was good with imports from the region having picked up more than 61% in the first five months of the current year. The increase was attributed to improving crude prices in the global markets.- Peninsula