Thailand’s export volume in June declined for the second consecutive month, registering a 3.38 percent fall, year-on-year, or Bt19 billion in value.
Permanent Secretary for Commerce Vatchari Vimooktayon said the reduction was from the economic slowdown in the Eurozone, the United States and Japan, resulting in a drop in exports to Thailand’s main traditional markets of 8.4 percent and China by 16.7 percent.
Other factors included the fact that the Thai prawn industry is having problems with Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS) causing a shrimp production decrease of 40 percent, insufficient to supply the country’s trading partners.
Thailand’s overall agricultural and agricultural industry exports fell 7.1 percent, including frozen and processed prawns, rice, and rubber.
However, Ms Vatchari said the country’s exports from January-June this year reached US$113 billion in value, up 0.95 percent year-on-year.
She said Thailand’s imports last month increased 3.01 percent, or US$21 billion in value, mostly capital goods, machinery and equipment. Overall, imports in the first half of this year reached US$129 billion, a 4.32-percent increase, resulting in a balance of trade deficit at US$1.9 billion in June alone and US$15.7 billion from January-June.
Meanwhile, Srirat Rastapana, International Trade Promotion Department director-general, said Thai exports this year might not reach their original target at 7.5 percent but instead might only amount to 6-6.5 percent due to the global slowdown.
She said Commerce Ministry is to continue to promote Thai exports even though many parties estimated the country’s export figure this year to grow at 4-5 percent. The ministry will revise the figure again in September.
