BANGKOK, May 7 – The Thai National Shippers’ Council (TNSC) has called on the government to speed up assistance to the private sector given looming devastation to the country’s exports in the second quarter.
TNSC chairman Nopporn Thepsithar said there is a potential that the surging baht will severely affect Thailand’s export in Q2 and the negative impacts have spread from small- and medium-sized enterprises to large industries.
The agro processing industry and manufacturers who rely heavily on domestic raw materials are especially badly affected, he said.
The shrimp industry has been hit by the strong baht as well as viral disease in breeding farms, he said, adding that the growth of shrimp exports, originally predicted at 8-9 per cent, may be lower to 6.9-7 per cent.
The export index in April expanded by only 4.92 per cent, he said.
Mr Nopporn urged the government to compare the Thai currency with those of trading partners, citing Japan which represents 10 per cent of Thailand’s export markets, and make adjustments accordingly.
He said the Japanese yen depreciated by 17 per cent while the baht appreciated by 7 per cent in the past few months.
In total, the baht strengthened by 24 per cent against the yen which severely affected exports of processing and frozen foods to the country, he said.
He said the TNSC will meet today to discuss requests for assistance from the government.
The TNSC becomes the third private organisation after the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Thai Industries calling for the government’s greater role in acting to resolve the economic and export losses.
