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Thailand’s auto production in 2009 set to fall 17%
A sluggish global economy sparked by the financial crisis in the US is
expected to hurt Thailand’s automobile production in 2009 with a projected
17.24 per cent drop from this year’s level, according to a senior industry
executive.
Adisak Rohitasune, senior vice president of Asian Honda Motor Co., Ltd. said
Thailand’s auto exports next year are expected to decline to a projected 1.2
million units, down 250,000 units from this year’s 1.45 million. Next year’s
initial auto production will be similar to actual production in 2007.
In an attempt to cut down expenses, Adisak said Honda will reduce overtime
for its workforce in line with the expected drop in production.
Still, the forecast for 2009 is better than the Asian financial crisis in
1997 he said. On that occasion 75 per cent of Thailand’s auto production was
wiped out for the year.
Total exports of cars, motorcycles and engines during the first nine months
of this year were valued about Bt70 billion, he said.
On the plus side, Adisak added, Thailand’s auto exports do not depend so
much on the US market as key importers are Asian countries, Australia, the
Middle East and Latin America. (TNA)
USTR extends Thai GSP
one more year
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR)
has extended its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) to Thailand for another
year, a senior Thai commerce ministry official announced last week.
Apiradi Tantraporn, director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, said the
GSP privileges offered to Thailand by the USTR were originally due to expire at
the end of next month. The GSP has now been extended for one more year and will
expire on December 31, 2009.
Currently, about 3,400 Thai products are covered by GSP and exempted from
tariffs when exported to the US, said Apiradi. Most of the products are in the
industrial sector, but some fall in the agricultural sector. They include
jewellery and ornamental products, rubber products, electrical appliances,
processed food, air-conditioner parts, and integrated circuits.
Under the GSP programme, countries enjoying the privileges cannot export their
goods and enjoy a market share in the US above 50 per cent or have an export
value for a product amounting to more than US$135 million in 2008. If the export
value of any particular goods exceeds the ceiling, the USTR will terminate the
GSP on July 1 of the following year.
Thailand came third in exercising the GSP privileges during the first half of
2008 with total exports to the U.S. amounting to approx. US$1.76 billion and a
market share of 11.53 per cent. (TNA)
PTT chief says political woes to
blame for drop in foreign investment
Foreign investors are reluctant to invest in the Stock Exchange of Thailand
(SET) due to the current political uncertainty in the nation, says Anon
Sirisaengthaksin, the Chief Executive Officer of PTT Exploration &
Production (PTTEP), the exploration arm of Thailand’s former petroleum state
enterprise.
Anon said he has recently been involved in promoting investment in Thailand
during sponsored roadshows to both Singapore and Dubai. He indicated that
investors in those countries said they would like to invest on the Thai
bourse, especially in PTTEP which has a strong record of business and
financial performance, but they remain reluctant to do so because of
uncertainties regarding whether they could repatriate money from Thailand if
there were to be a political change in the kingdom.
They are prepared to invest in SET if the political conflict ends although
the market is also being affected by the global financial meltdown, he said.
Touching on the topic of declining oil prices in the world market in which
futures in Brent crude have retreated to US$58 per barrel, its lowest in the
past 21 months, Anon said he believed that the price of crude would not drop
much further due to high production costs, while at the same time the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) plans to reduce its
crude production to shore up prices after having recently cut production by
1.5 million barrels daily, he added. (TNA)
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