Thai exports in May showed the lowest level in four years due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, according to the Commerce Ministry.
Pimchanok Vonkorpon, director-general of the ministry’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office, said the export value in May was at US$16.28 billion, down by 22.50% year-on-year, and the import value was at US$13.58 billion, falling by 34.41%.
The May export was the lowest in four years and its increase rate was the lowest in 130 months or more than 10 years from July 2009, she said.
Demand and supply shrank due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production plunged because of worldwide lockdowns and the income of trading partners was affected, Ms Pimchanok said.
“The impacts happen worldwide and it cannot be predicted when the situation should end,” she said.
However, the exports of farm products and foods remained promising as they grew by 22%, up from 15% in the same period last year.
“The markets for this group of exports must be protected and such an incident in Germany where infections happened at slaughterhouses must be prevented,” Ms Pimchanok said.
In May, Thailand posted a trade surplus of US$2.69 billion. In the first five months of this year the trade surplus amounted to US$9.09 billion due to US$97.89 billion exports, down by 3.71%, and US$88.80 billion imports, down by 11.64%. (TNA)
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