BANGKOK – Thailand’s exports contracted 7.26% to US$192.37 billion (RM787 billion) while imports dropped 14.61% to US$169.70 billion in the first 10 months of this year, resulting in a trade surplus of US$22.67 billion.
In a statement, the Commerce Ministry’s trade policy and strategy office said the nation’s exports in October dropped 6.71% to US$19.38 billion while imports fell 14.32% to US$17.33 billion. This led to a trade surplus of US$2.05 billion.
It said exports to South Asia markets rebounded at 15.6% in October while exports to China, five Asean countries – Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore – and CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam) markets contracted by 6.1%, 27.2%, and 17% respectively.
“Exports to the United States rose 17%; however, exports to Japan and the European Union contracted by 0.4% and 5.3%, respectively,” the ministry said.
It said exports of agricultural and agro-industrial products decreased 8.8% while those of industrial products decreased 4.7% in October.
For the first 10 months of 2020, exports of agricultural and agro-industrial products dropped 13.6% while exports of industrial products declined 7%.
Director-general Pimchanok Vonkorpon said Thailand’s international trade had improved as the global economy was gradually recovering, as reflected by the Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, which stood at above 50 for the fourth consecutive month.
She said fiscal and monetary stimulus packages in many countries supported global demand recovery and were positively impacting Thailand’s export prospects.
“Products with strong expansion in October this year are classified into three groups – food products such as palm oil, fresh, chilled and frozen pork, food seasoning and pet food; home appliances and work-from-home products such as computer and parts, furniture and parts; microwave, refrigerators and freezers, washing machine, and solar cells.
“Covid-19 related products such as rubber gloves, of which export values have soared since January 2020 especially in areas with high epidemic rates such as the US and the UK, also impacted Thailand’s export prospects,” she said.
Pimchanok said she was optimistic that Thailand's exports would continue its recovery trend as the US’ unofficial election results and Covid-19 vaccine development sent a positive signal on world trade.
“After the Covid-19 pandemic, Thailand should develop and promote value-added products in order to increase export values and the competitiveness of Thai products in the long term,” she said.
She said to maintain Thailand’s export growth for the rest of 2020, the ministry would tackle three issues, including expediting the export of 300,000 tonnes of rice to the Chinese market and promoting border trade and trade negotiations with high potential trading partners.
“The Commerce Ministry will promote and build confidence in Thai food products as being Covid-19 free. The above measures will support Thailand’s export growth in the future,” she added. – Bernama, November 23, 2020
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