TOKYO, Sept. 13 ― Japan’s food exports rose for the fifth consecutive month in July, thanks largely to appetite for wagyu beef and dairy products in neighboring Asian countries, official data has showed.
Total shipments of agriculture products, processed foods and seafood rose 18% to 70.5 billion yen in July, which was 10.9 billion yen higher in the same month a year earlier, according to the agriculture ministry.
The primary agricultural products, which constitute half of total agricultural exports, increased 16% to 45.8 billion yen.
China was by far the largest growth market increasing by 40 percent in July from a year ago, or 10.1 billion yen.
Exports to Hong Kong, the biggest agricultural export market for Japan, grew 17% to 14.2 billion yen. Exports to the U.S., the third biggest, rose 6% to 9.3 billion yen.
Combining January to July, agriculture exports rose 16% from the same period a year earlier, getting right on track to meet a target of 1 trillion yen in agricultural exports in 2019.
Last year, the country’s agriculture exports totaled a record 807.1 billion yen.