Panasonic joins trend of reshoring out of China

A Panasonic Corp's lithium-ion battery, which is part of Tesla Motor Inc's Model S and Model X battery packs, is pictured with Tesla Motors logo during a photo opportunity at the Panasonic Center in Tokyo, ahead of the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show, Nov 19, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

He said the shortage of senior skilled workers at home appliance plants has pushed up their salaries and thus increased employers' costs.

Sharp Corp also plans to reshore overseas TV production, and Daikin Industries Ltd has moved part of its air conditioner production from China to Japan.

Yen 'weighs on emerging economies'

The yen will likely continue to depreciate against the dollar as the Bank of Japan will step up quantitative easing to spur growth, and this trend could weigh on currency values in emerging economies, analysts said on Wednesday.

The yen may weaken to 150 per US dollar in the next two years as Japan is expected to continue its aggressive stimulus in the form of bond-buying by its central bank.

The yen has lost about 55 percent of its value against the dollar since 2012 when Japanese PM Shinzo Abe took office with the promise of reviving the economy through quantitative easing.

China and other emerging economies may face headwinds from the weaker yen, which could be a drag on their exports to Japan. Some Japanese companies are weighing up the benefits of reshoring production from China.

Zhu Haibin, chief China economist at JPMorgan & Co, warned of the risk of competitive devaluations in emerging markets in response to a weaker yen and euro. The latter currency is trading at its lowest level in nine years.

"Most emerging market currencies may follow the euro and the yen, weakening against the dollar, and the risk of competitive devaluation cannot be ignored," he said.

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