The global economic slowdown has lowered Thailand’s Manufacturing Production Index (MPI) by 3.5 percent last month with hard disk drives and electronics parts production hardest hit, according to the Industry Ministry.
Somchai Harnhirun, director of the Office of Industrial Economics (OIE), said the MPI in Q2 slipped 5.2 percent and the MPI in the first half of the year was at 175.71, a reduction of 1.1 percent.
Manufacturing of hard disk drives and electronics parts plunged by 17.59 percent and 15.53 percent respectively last month while the manufacturing rate was at 64.09 percent.
The OIE, in recognition of the global and Thai economic downturn, has adjusted this year’s MPI growth target 0.5-1.0 percent with a prediction that the industrial gross domestic product will expand by 3-4 percent this year.
Thailand’s industrial exports in the first half of the year were 3.95 percent higher and the OIE forecasted a 6 percent growth for the entire year.
Manufacturing in major industrial sectors was favourable last month with 12.3 percent growth year-on-year in the auto industry, with a predicted total production of 2.55 million units or a 4.62 percent increase this year.
Of the total auto production, 1.55 million units were for local distribution, an increase of 8.73 percent, and 1 million units were slated for export, representing a 2.25 percent increase.
Iron and steel production expanded by 5 percent year-on-year but it is predicted that the demand for iron will be less in the second half of the year owing to the economic and construction slowdown.
Food industrial production plunged by 20.2 percent and exports dropped by 8.8 percent and it is predicted that manufacturing and exports of food products this year will be 5.6 percent lower than last year.
