The country's imports grew at a faster pace than exports did mainly because of higher prices of energy and natural resources such as liquefied natural gas, ministry officials said.

Exports went up 14.9 percent from a year earlier to 5,851.4 billion yen, reflecting growth in US-bound automobile shipments and steel product exports to Mexico.

Meanwhile, imports climbed 17.8 percent to 6,054.7 billion yen, as the value of Qatari LNG purchases and Indonesian coal imports increased due to price hikes stemming from damage resource-rich Australia suffered from a large-scale cyclone in March.

In trade with the United States, Japan's surplus expanded 19 percent to 411.1 billion yen, the first rise in three months. Exports were up 11.6 percent, thanks to brisk shipments of vehicles with engine displacements of over 3,000 cc, while imports were up 7.4 percent, led by larger purchases of liquefied petroleum gas and of corn for animal consumption.

In trade with mainland China, Japan posted a deficit of 311.8 billion yen, staying in the red for the third straight month due in part to a 21.6 percent surge in imports of personal computers. Purchases of Chinese coal also increased as replacement for Australian coal. (Jiji Press)