Japan said its exports are beginning to slow.

Citing the yen’s growing strength, the Economic Planning Agency report said shipments of steel, chemical products and machinery were especially slack as exports slid 3.6% in August from the previous month, the sixth consecutive monthly decline. In the past year, the yen’s value against the dollar has risen by about 40%. A stronger yen makes Japanese products more expensive overseas. At the end of the January-March quarter, the Japanese economy contracted for the first time in 11 years. In the next three months, it registered a sluggish 0.9% inflation-adjusted growth.