June trade deficit 1.3838 trln yen, smaller than expected
Imports, exports increase more than expected yy

TOKYO, July 21 Reuters Japan ran a trade deficit for the 11th straight month in June as high energy and other commodity costs pushed up imports, highlighting growing economic pressures from a sharply declining yen and global inflation.

Imports surged 46.1 in the year to June, Ministry of Finance data showed on Thursday, slightly above a median market forecast for a 45.7 gain in a Reuters poll.

That outpaced a 19.4 yearonyear rise in exports in the same month, resulting in a 1.3838 trillion yen 9.99 billion trade deficit, the 11th straight month of shortfalls.

June39;s deficit was smaller than the 1.510 trillion yen gap expected in a Reuters poll.

Imports swelled due to a surge in shipments of oil from Saudi Arabia and coal and liquefied natural gas LNG from Australia. Imports of LNG from Malaysia and coal from Indonesia posted tripledigit surges, the data showed.

Import volumes outpaced export volumes across Q2 so net trade should have been a small drag on Q2 GDP gross domestic product growth, said Marcel Thieliant, senior Japan economist at Capital Economics.

Car exports remain the Achilles heel of Japan39;s manufacturing sector as they were only up 0.4 yearonyear, but that marked at least a pickup from the 7.9 yearonyear fall in May, he added.

By region, exports to China, Japan39;s largest trading partner, rose 8.3 in the 12 months to June, recovering from…