Even the most optimistic scenario does not foresee a recovery in Japan’s economy until the second quarter of next year.
What we have ahead of us is going to be terrible. It’s like last year’s disaster all over again.
The quake and tsunami in northeastern Japan last year hobbled the economy for months. Auto production was particularly hard hit because parts suppliers had been located in the disaster area. Flooding in Thailand that followed added to the automakers’ woes. They had only bounced back toward the end of last year, after months of rebuilding.
Japan Economy Shaky as Island Spat Hits Business
ReplyDeleteby Time World > Associated Press
http://world.time.com/2012/10/09/japan-economy-shaky-as-island-spat-hits-business/
A report by J.P. Morgan, released Tuesday, projected Japanese auto exports to China will crash 70 percent during the October-December period. The export of auto parts will slip by 40 percent — about the same drop estimated for exports of other consumer products, such as electronics, it said.
ReplyDeleteThe aftermath of the latest phase of the sizzling territorial spat with China will cause Japan’s economy, the world’s third biggest, to shrink 0.8 percent in the fourth quarter, according to J.P. Morgan. It had previously forecast no growth in the quarter.
J.P. Morgan chief economist Masaaki Kanno fears the fallout could get worse in the months ahead, as the September sales numbers for Japanese automakers only account for damage that started the middle of the month.
Toyota said Tuesday that sales of new vehicles in China dropped 49 percent in September from a year earlier to 44,100 vehicles. Honda said September sales plunged 41 percent to 33,931 vehicles. China sales for Nissan Motor Co. slid 35 percent last month to 76,100 vehicles.
Even the most optimistic scenario does not foresee a recovery in Japan’s economy until the second quarter of next year, Kanno said.
“What we have ahead of us is going to be terrible,” he said. “It’s like last year’s disaster all over again.”
The quake and tsunami in northeastern Japan last year hobbled the economy for months. Auto production was particularly hard hit because parts suppliers had been located in the disaster area. Flooding in Thailand that followed added to the automakers’ woes. They had only bounced back toward the end of last year, after months of rebuilding.