TOKYO, Aug 20: Kuwait’s trade surplus with Japan fell 15.2% in July from a year earlier to JPY 49 billion ($311 million), marking the sixth consecutive monthly decline on weaker exports, data from Japan’s Finance Ministry showed on Wednesday.

Despite the drop, Kuwait has maintained a trade surplus with Japan for 17 years and six months, as export values continued to outpace imports, according to the ministry’s preliminary report.

Kuwait’s exports to Japan slipped 5.9% year-on-year to JPY 77.5 billion ($504 million), falling for the sixth straight month, while imports from Japan rose 15.8% to JPY 28.5 billion ($180 million), extending their growth streak to eight months.

The Middle East as a whole also posted a narrower trade surplus with Japan, down 25.1% at JPY 550.4 billion ($3.7 billion), as regional exports dropped 18.1% from a year earlier. Shipments of crude oil, refined products, liquefied natural gas, and other resources, which made up 93.3% of the region’s total exports to Japan, slid 19.0%. Imports from Japan to the region fell 3.2% on weaker demand for manufactured goods and steel.

Japan’s overall trade balance swung back into deficit in July for the first time in two months, recording JPY 117.5 billion ($776 million), though the gap shrank 81.3% from a year earlier. Exports from the world’s third-largest economy declined 2.6% on weak automobile shipments to the United States amid higher tariffs, while imports fell 7.5% as bills for pharmaceuticals, aircraft, and engines decreased.

China remained Japan’s largest trading partner, followed by the United States, the ministry said.