LEAD: Japan machinery orders fall 7.1 per cent in December

Feb 9, 2012, 2:42 GMT

Tokyo - Japan's key machinery orders dropped a seasonally adjusted 7.1 per cent in December from the previous month amid the yen's rise and global economic problems, the government said Thursday.

Core private-sector machinery orders, which exclude volatile categories such as ships and power plants, declined to 733.2 billion yen (9.52 billion dollars), the Cabinet Office said.

The decrease, which exceeded the prediction of a 4.7-per-cent fall by the business daily Nikkei, followed a 14.8-per-cent rise in November.

Orders from manufacturers fell 7.1 per cent to 314.2 billion yen, while those from non-manufacturers dropped 6 per cent to 413.1 billion yen, the office said.

Electrical machinery producers showed a 19.8-per-cent fall while information and communication electronics equipment makers logged an 18.2-per-cent decline.

Overseas orders, an indicator of future exports, rose 5.6 per cent to 943.7 billion yen in December.

Domestic and overseas core machinery orders for the whole of 2011 were up 7.8 per cent from the previous year to 8.9 trillion yen for the second straight annual growth despite the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which devastated north-eastern Japan, disrupting supply chains.

Orders from manufacturers grew 10.4 per cent in 2011 while those from non-manufacturers were up 5.8 per cent.