JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia took 35 percent share of Japan's total trade with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in 2010, the Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro) said. Japan's trade with the GCC grew 25 percent to $122.4 billion, with Tokyo's exports rising by 14 percent and imports by 27 percent, it said. Japan's trade with the GCC grew 25 percent to $122.4 billion with Tokyo's exports rising by 14 percent and imports by 27 percent. Japan's total trade with Saudi Arabia grew 23 percent, the UAE (25 percent), Kuwait (14 percent), Oman (34 percent) and Bahrain (40 percent). Qatar cornered 19 percent share of Japan's total trade with the GCC, the UAE 30 percent, Kuwait 10 percent, Oman 6 percent and Bahrain 1 percent. Japan's imports from Saudi Arabia had grown 23 percent, the UAE (29 percent), Kuwait (14 percent), Oman (36 percent) and Bahrain (25 percent). Japan's trade with Qatar, its third largest trading partner among the GCC countries, jumped 30 percent to $22.84 billion in 2010 despite a steep fall in its exports to Doha Jetro said. Japan's exports to Qatar recorded a 30 percent decline to $1.14 billion, whereas imports from Doha surged 36 percent to $21.70 billion, showing a trade deficit of $20.56 billion in 2010, said the Jetro figures. Although there was an overall fall in Japan's exports to Qatar, vehicle exports surged 58 percent to $775.2 million, the Jetro figures showed. Exports of steam turbine plummeted 99 percent to $1 million and gas turbines by 94 percent to $15.9 million, while exports of electrical machinery (74 percent) and iron and steel products and general machinery (72 percent each). "The surge in total value of two-way trade was attributed to the increase in the average price of crude oil and petroleum gases that Japan imported from Qatar," Jetro said, highlighting that the average price of crude oil rose to $79.23 a barrel in 2010 from $59.09 million in 2009. Japan imported 158.9 million barrel of crude oil from Qatar in 2010 against 159.6 million year ago. Jetro said a 20.32 percent increase in the price of petroleum gases has also contributed to the surge in the value of trade with the average price of petroleum gases rising to $669 per ton in 2010 from $556 in 2009. Japan imported 11 million tons of petroleum gases, comprising 7.6 million tons of LNG, 2.6 million tons of propane gas and 0.8 million tons of butane gas from Qatar in 2010. The import of light oils and other oil preparations from Qatar more than doubled to $1.71 billion in 2010.
