FILE - In this Feb. 18, 2016 file photo, a port worker walks through the piled containers in Tokyo. Japan's exports fell in March, sapped by weak shipments of machinery and chemicals, though a sharper decline in imports helped push the trade surplus to its highest level in more than five years, according to customs data reported Wednesday, April 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, File) (The Associated Press)
TOKYO – Japan's exports fell in March, sapped by weak shipments of machinery and chemicals, though a sharper decline in imports helped push the trade surplus to its highest level in more than five years.
Customs data reported Wednesday showed exports fell 6.8 percent from a year earlier to 6.46 trillion yen ($59.2 billion) while imports sank 14.9 percent to 5.7 trillion yen ($52.2 billion).
The balance of 754 billion yen ($6.9 billion) was the highest since October 2010.
In value terms, exports of machinery, electrical machinery and chemicals fell at double-digit paces, though car exports surged nearly 16 percent.
Imports of coal, oil, food and machinery dropped. The change was exaggerated by a recent 10 percent surge in the yen's value against the U.S. dollar, to about 109 yen.
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