The tendency will likely remain unchanged as long as the ruble continues to appreciate," said Hiroshi Sato, chair of the Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association. Money transfers from Russia to Japan are being carried out smoothly at least for now, according to Japanese and Russian companies.
#JAPAN USED CARS EXPORTER SERIES#
The series of economic sanctions against Russia include an export ban on luxury cars worth more than 6 million yen, medium and large trucks and other vehicles. There are also views that the falling prices of imported cars are contributing to the dwindling sales of new cars in Russia. Naturally, BMWs and other luxury European cars are also popular in Russia. The higher the car price, the more benefits the buyer can gain from the stronger ruble. The ruble currently is hovering around 2.3 against the yen, remaining at a higher level than before. Prior to the invasion, one ruble was worth around 1.5 yen (1 cent) before it was worth less than 0.9 yen at one point after the invasion.īut the ruble has rebounded since late April, hovering around 2.5 against the yen at one time.įor example, a used car worth 3 million yen in Japan was worth about 2 million rubles before the invasion.īut its value soared to about 3.33 million rubles after the invasion, before dropping to about 1.2 million rubles.
Japanese used cars becoming cheaper thanks to the strong ruble is the main reason for the rise in orders. The situation was aggravated even further after a Russian cargo ship loaded with used cars caught fire while it was en route to Vladivostok from Fushiki Port in Toyama Prefecture in late June, resulting in its temporary suspension. Japanese shipping companies stopped their services from Yokohama and Kobe to Russia's Far East after the invasion due to economic sanctions against the country. The company had to limit orders to about 200 because it couldn't keep up with the workload.Īccording to Zabora, 17,000 to 18,000 used cars are transported to Russia from Japan per month.īut the sharp increase in orders caused delays in making arrangements for cargo ships and storage facilities, as well as customs procedures.įrom 40,000 to 45,000 vehicles have been purchased and are waiting for loading in Japan. It received about 300 orders in June, a more than threefold increase from before the invasion, when the figure was between 60 and 90 per month.
The company had to temporarily stop accepting orders because prospects remained uncertain after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February.īut Carwin was swamped with orders shortly after it resumed importing in April. But the company is unable to increase its transport capacity because the number of freight services is limited, and the port is already packed with cargo.ĭmitriy Zabora, 38, CEO of used car importer Carwin PLC, based in Vladivostok, said he was baffled by the unexpected situation. Russian companies say they are flooded with orders from across the country and are often forced to restrict orders, while about 40,000 vehicles are waiting to be exported from Japan.Ī representative at a logistics company said it uses two cargo ships to transport 2,000 used cars from Japan each month. While Japan and many Western nations have imposed economic sanctions against Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine, Japan's used car exports to Russia's Far East have increased threefold since around May. Other companies operating at the port were also facing a similar situation, he added. He said the company is considering expanding the space or building a temporary storage facility in a suburban area.
Viktor Lutsyk, 32, head of the cargo department of a facility management company, said there was a shortage of parking spaces after a sharp increase in cars imported from Japan and other countries. In late June, Vladivostok Port in Russia's Far East was packed with new and used cars transported from Japan and South Korea, many of which were SUVs, minivans and large luxury models.
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