Tokyo, April 20, 2022, SPA -- Japan logged a goods trade deficit of 412.4 billion yen ($3.2 billion) in March, remaining in the red for the eighth consecutive month, as high energy prices after Russia's invasion of Ukraine boosted the value of imports, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday according to Kyodo News Agency. Imports grew 31.2 percent from a year earlier to 8.87 trillion yen, rising for the 14th consecutive month, the ministry said in a preliminary report, with imports of petroleum from the United Arab Emirates as well as coal and liquefied natural gas from Australia increasing significantly. Petroleum imports jumped 69.7 percent from a year earlier to 865.1 billion yen, rising for the 12th straight month. Exports climbed 14.7 percent to 8.46 trillion yen, up for the 13th straight month, reflecting robust demand for semiconductor manufacturing devices in Taiwan and steel product shipments to Vietnam. --SPA 10:29 LOCAL TIME 07:29 GMT 0012 www.spa.gov.sa/w1723324