After receiving a large number of orders from China and the United States, Japan's semiconductor industry exports are now on a par with the country's passenger car exports, according to Nikkei Asia.
According to preliminary trade data released by the Japanese government, total exports of chip manufacturing equipment, integrated circuit products and related electronic components in the second half of 2021 were 4.47 trillion yen (US $39 billion). By comparison, passenger car exports are worth 4.53 trillion yen.
Novel coronavirus's pandemic and digital transformation have boosted the demand for semiconductors, the report said. Exports of Japan's chip industry increased by 24.4 per cent over the same period in 2020 and 30 per cent compared with the second half of 2019 before the outbreak began. The industry now accounts for more than 10 per cent of all Japanese exports.
Exports to China are an important driver of the growth of Japan's chip industry. Of this total, shipments of semiconductor equipment in Japan increased by 15.8% to 671 billion yen. Exports of electronic components expanded by 21.5% to 697.3 billion yen.
Meanwhile, exports of US-related chipmaking equipment surged 70 per cent to 247.3 billion yen. Apparently, these figures also benefit from TSMC and Samsung Electronics building new factories in the United States at the urging of Washington.
However, Japanese passenger car exports fell 8.5 per cent. Last fall, carmakers were forced to cut production sharply because of the novel coronavirus outbreak in Southeast Asia and shortages of semiconductors and other components.
At present, Japan's car exports are recovering, rising 17.5% in December from a year earlier. However, with the rising global demand for chips, there may still be shortages in the future, which will once again put pressure on production and exports.
