Trade surplus plunges March after the tsunami (AFP)

 trade surplus plunged 78.9% in March from the previous year, exports fell after a March 11 earthquake and the tsunami that triggered a nuclear crisis, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.

The surplus reached 196.5 billion yen ($2.37 billion), still manage to stay in the black for the second month of law, said the Ministry.

Exports fell by 2.2 per cent to 5.87 billion yen ($70.9 billion), falling for the first time in 16 months by shipments of automobiles and ships, he said.

He came slightly below a decrease of 2.0% planned in a survey by Dow Jones and Nikkei's joint.

The fall was led by exports of vehicles, which dropped by 27.8%. Abandoned ships 10.0% and parts electronics exports fell to 6.9%, said the Ministry.

For the 15th straight month, up 11.9% to 5.67 billion yen, on the increase in oil and iron ore prices, imports have said the Ministry.

The value of oil rose 14.8% of imports. The value of imports of iron ore exploded at 74.9%. Coal imports rose 39.4%.

The Ministry also said Japanese exports for the year to March increased by 14.9% 67.8 billion yen, while imports increased 15.9% to 62.4 billion.

Annual trade surplus increased by 3.9% 5.4 billion yen, the Ministry said.