The total value of products shipped by the mining and manufacturing industries. Like Industrial Production, Shipments is indicative of market demand. The figure is often examined along with inventory data to gleam insight into supply and demand trends in Japan 's manufacturing sector. Higher shipments and decreasing inventories indicate strong market demand which typically leads to economic expansion and possible inflationary pressures.

The headline is the seasonally-adjusted percentage change in shipments from the previous month.

Relevance :Rarely affects markets
Release schedule : 23:50 (GMT); monthly; a month after the reporting period
Revisions schedule : Final, revised figures come out two weeks after the preliminary report
Source of report : Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry ( Japan )
Web Address : http://www.meti.go.jp/english/index.html
Address of release : http://www.meti.go.jp/english/statistics/index.html