Japan's trade surplus dived 99 percent in March from a year earlier as coronavirus woes hit exports to its major trading partners, official data showed Monday.

Container ships are berthed at a shipping terminal in Yokohama, Japan, on Monday, April 16, 2018.  (File photo: VCG)

The March surplus came in at 4.9 billion yen ($45.5 million), less than one percent of the year-before figure of 517 billion yen, according to the finance ministry.

Overall exports fell 11.7 percent, with US-bound shipments tumbling 16.5 percent and shipments to China falling 8.7 percent. Exports to the European Union fell 11.1 percent.