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Japan slams brakes on sending used cars to Russia, axing lucrative trade

  • Russia’s demand for second-hand cars from Japan jumped sharply after global carmakers pulled back following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine
  • Japan’s new sanctions have cut off a lucrative backchannel for a network of brokers and smaller ports who trade used Toyotas, Hondas and Nissans

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Used cars are seen for sale in Japan. The sanctions have driven down prices for second-hand cars in Japan and left brokers scrambling to send vehicles to other regions. Photo: Kyodo
Reuters
Japan’s move to bar most used-car sales to Russia slammed the brakes on a trade nearing US$2 billion annually that had boomed in the shadow of sanctions over Ukraine elsewhere, according to trade data and market participants.
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In early August, Japan’s government banned exports of all but subcompact cars to Russia, cutting off a lucrative trading backchannel in used Toyotas, Hondas and Nissans for a network of brokers and smaller ports, especially Fushiki, an export hub on the Sea of Japan.
While wiping out Russia’s biggest source of used cars, the sanctions have driven down prices for second-hand cars in Japan and left brokers scrambling to send vehicles to other regions, especially right-hand drive markets in New Zealand, Southeast Asia and Africa.
A container ship is loaded at the port of Kawasaki near Tokyo. More than half of the used cars imported by Russia in the first eight months of 2023 came from Japan. Photo: AP
A container ship is loaded at the port of Kawasaki near Tokyo. More than half of the used cars imported by Russia in the first eight months of 2023 came from Japan. Photo: AP

Russia’s demand for second-hand cars from Japan jumped sharply after global carmakers, including Toyota, pulled back from operations following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

By last year, with sanctions elsewhere tightening, Russia was buying more than a quarter of Japan’s used-car exports for an average price of almost US$8,200. That was more than double the price in 2020, when Russia took about 15 per cent of Japan’s used-car exports.

Those sales had been on track to top US$1.9 billion for all of 2023 before Japan imposed its own tougher sanctions, trade data show.

More than half of the 303,000 used cars imported by Russia in the first eight months of the year came from Japan, according to figures from Russian analytical agency Autostat.

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