Japan’s lubricants production volume declined 16%, and its domestic lubricants sales volume dropped 46% in April, compared to volumes in the same month last year, a Japanese government agency reported Wednesday.
The country produced 210,057 kiloliters (189,000 metric tons) of finished lubes in April, down from 249,339 kL in April 2022, according to data released by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The figure was the second highest so far this year, behind 231,840 kL in March.
Domestic lubricant sales fell to 135,279 kL, compared to 193,528 kL. It was the second highest for a month, behind 176,282 in March.
Lubricant exports from Japan decreased 14% to 59,790 kL in April.
Lubricants imports plummeted 81% to 13,028 kL during the month, compared to 28,554 kL.
The agency began tracking grease production in April 2022, so April this year was the first time that year-on-year comparative data was available for that category. Japan’s grease production in April was down 6% at 4,561 kL, and domestic grease sales decreased 5% to 3,831 kL. The country imported 172 kL of grease, a 5% increase, and exported 61 kL of grease, a 4% increase.
The Bank of Japan said in its “Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices,” released in April, that Japan’s economy had picked up, despite being affected by factors such as past high commodity prices. “The pace of recovery in overseas economies has slowed,” the bank noted. “Although exports and industrial production have been affected by the developments in overseas economies, they have been more or less flat, supported by a waning of the effects of supply-side constraints.”