According to Japanese Ministry of Finance, January-March 2020 exports of shuttleless looms (HS code 8446.30.000, shuttleless looms for weaving fabrics of a width exceeding 30 cm) dropped 43.0% year-on-year to 2,008 looms. In value, exports fell 37.6% to 12,051.74 million yen.
First-quarter exports sharply increased to Pakistan (up 80.0% to 198 looms and to Taiwan (up 190.0% to 64 looms), and those to India remained about the same (down 0.2% to 462 looms).
Exports to China dropped 60.3% to 995 looms. While the market has been stagnant due to U.S.-China trade friction since 2018, loom exports began to show some movements last November and December, but the coronavirus pandemic caused exports to drop to a low level again. Exports to Turkey, which has been suffering a currency crisis before the coronavirus pandemic, fell 92.4% to 5 looms.
Meanwhile, Japanese imports of shuttleless looms during the first quarter sharply increased by 44.0% to 36 looms. Imports from Italy grew by 40.0% to 28 looms. First-quarter 2020 imports from Belgium amounted to 4 looms; Germany, 3 looms; and Switzerland, 1 loom.
(Table of Japanese exports and imports of shuttleless looms is appearing in Statistics section.)
