Surging exports heighten the demand for dollars, setting up a virtuous circle of net capital inflows.
Figures showing a 20% surge in imports while exports stagnated heightened fears of recession in Japan's export-dependent economy.
Japan's trade surplus narrowed more in July than economists had forecast as automobile exports cooled, heightening concern that growth in Japan, the world's second-largest economy, might slow.
He added: "During quarter two there was heightened uncertainty in some of our key export markets such as the EU as well as slowed growth in the US and Asia.
Although Susana Siekavizza, executive director of Grepalma, the local industry association, said that Guatemalan palm is currently exported for cooking oil, the high prices that it commands reflect heightened global demand for a crop also used in biofuel.
This week's report on seawater has heightened fishermen's concerns about their wares, the nation's signature export, even though the government has said the seafood is safe to eat.
Germany's position as the powerhouse for the region was heightened by rising demand for its goods both domestically and in its export markets despite concerns about weakening growth in Asia.
Since late last year, members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have been ratcheting up output as anxiety over a war with Iraq, heightened United States demand during an unusually cold winter and interrupted Venezuelan production pushed oil prices steadily higher.
All of which heightened tensions ahead of China trade data on Wednesday where further declines are expected in exports and imports, underlining the parlous state of world trade flows.
The political turmoil in Ukraine has been heightened by an economic free fall, as global demand for steel, Ukraine's biggest export, has plummeted.
