Shipments of paper products increased in Japan for the first
time in eleven months last month as the weaker yen made imported products more
expensive, enabling domestic paper producers to regain sales. Domestic
shipments of paper and paperboard, which includes everything from newsprint and
packaging to cardboard, increased 3.3 percent in April to 2.18 million metric
tons, the Japan Paper Association said today in a statement. Japanese exports
surged 43 percent to 83,000 tons last month, whereas imports dropped 33 percent
to 141,000 tons in March from a year earlier. Japan’s currency has fallen 19 percent since Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe’s election victory on Dec. 16, making domestic-made goods including
paper, vehicles and steel, more competitive than those from abroad.
