Thailand
Thailand: February stumble for exports
Exports slid in February after three months of increases, mainly due to lower shipments of gold and aircraft.
The Commerce Ministry yesterday reported that exports fell by 2.8% year-on-year in February to UScopy8.47 billion after rising 8.8% in January, 6.2% in December and 10.2% in November. Pimchanok Vonkorpon, director-general of the ministry’s trade policy and strategy office, said February exports showed a decline because figures in February 2016 were relatively high, driven by gold and aircraft. When excluding gold and aircraft, exports last month rose 8.5% from a year earlier, indicating that Thailand’s shipments started their rebound in line with the global economic recovery.
Thai exports posted an unexpected rise in February last year, growing for the first time in 14 months, driven mainly by gold and special hardware for military exercises.
The Customs Department included helicopters and vehicles that were imported and used for military drills in the export figures.
Exports of agricultural and agribusiness products rose for the fourth straight month in February, up 13.9% year-on-year at $2.85 billion.
Farm products were boosted by higher shipments of rubber (+75.3%), fresh and processed fruits and vegetables (+23.3%), fresh and processed shrimp (+58.7%) and rice (+6.1%).
Exports of industrial products also fell for the first time in two months, shrinking 5.9% in February to copy4.8 billion, largely due to lower shipments of gold (-65.4%), automotive and parts (-6.5%) and steel products (-1.4%).
According to Ms Pimchanok, shipments fared well in key markets such as the US, Europe, China, South Asia and the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam).
In February, imports rose 20.4% from the same month in the previous year to copy6.86 billion, yielding a trade surplus of copy.6 billion.
For the first two months, Thailand’s exports rose 2.5% year-on-year to fetch $35.56 billion. Imports for the period amounted to $33.13 billion, up 12.4%
“We expect the overall global export market to remain in an upward trend, driven by the growing economies of large countries such as China and the US and higher oil prices,” Ms Pimchanok said. The Commerce Ministry expects the baht to remain in a range of 35.50-37.50 against the US dollar.
Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1219737/february-stumble-for-exports