Japan’s trade surplus with the rest of the world ballooned about 15-fold in April from a year earlier to $8.25 billion thanks to a robust growth in exports, according to preliminary figures released by the Finance Ministry on Thursday.

The year-on-year rise in Japan’s overall exports in April was led by automobiles, which soared 103.1 percent, auto parts and electronic parts, including semiconductors.

The Journal of Commerce, May 27, 2010