Japan's exports plunged at a double-digit pace for the fourth month in a row in June, backing signs the coronavirus crisis has knocked the economy into its worst postwar recession and raising the specter of a longer and more painful global downturn.

U.S.-bound Japanese shipments nearly halved again due to plummeting demand for cars and autoparts, while exports to China remained weak, pointing to the absence of a strong growth engine for the world economy.

Ministry of Finance (MOF) data showed on Monday that Japan's exports dived by 26.2 percent in June from a year earlier, bigger than a 24.9-percent decline seen by economists in a Reuters poll. The contraction slowed slightly from the prior month's 28.3 percent fall – the worst downturn since September 2009.

Global demand for cars and other durable goods has sunk since March as the pandemic prompted many countries to lockdown.

Though more countries have now started reopening their economies, analysts say the trade data could diminish hopes for a quick rebound in global demand and Japan's export-led economy, especially given the resurgence of coronavirus cases in major economies like the United States, Brazil and India.

The International Monetary Fund last month forecast global output will shrink by 4.9 percent this year, versus a 3.0-percent contraction predicted in April. It also predicted a slower recovery in 2021, with growth of 5.4 percent for the year compared with a 5.8-percent rise seen in April.

"Exports are likely to seesaw for the time being," said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.

"If domestic and external demand remain sluggish for a prolonged period, supply capacity could be slashed, triggering a jump in bankruptcies and job losses in the latter half of this fiscal year."

Shipments to the U.S. tank

The latest slump was aggravated by a massive annual decline in U.S.-bound car shipments, a major export item for the Asian giant.

Overall shipments to the United States – Japan's key market – dived by 46.6 percent, due to 63.3 percent decline in exports of automobiles, 56 percent drop in airplane engines and 58.3 percent fall in car parts.

Exports to China, Japan's largest trading partner, fell by 0.2 percent in the year to June, as declines in shipments of chip-making machinery and chemical materials more than offset increase in nonferrous metal and car shipments.

Shipments to Asia, which account for more than half of Japanese exports, declined by 15.3 percent, and exports to the European Union fell by 28.4 percent.

(Cover: Containers at an industrial port in the Keihin Industrial Zone in Kawasaki, Japan. /Reuters)