Thai exports rise despite demand woes

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BANGKOK- Thailand’s exports unexpectedly increased for a second straight month in September as farm product shipments rose despite weak global demand, but the commerce ministry said on Tuesday full-year exports would not show growth.

Customs-based exports a key driver of Thailand’s economy, rose 2.1 percent in September from a year earlier, compared with a 1.75 percent decline forecast in a Reuters poll.

Exports rose 4.9 percent from August 2023, when shipments rose 2.6 percent year-on-year, the first increase in 11 months.

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The export gains were helped by higher shipments of agricultural and agro-industrial products, but the global manufacturing sector still contracted and the recovery of key markets remained uneven, the ministry said in a statement.

Exports are expected to grow in the fourth quarter of 2023, when there are usually large orders, Keerati Rushchano, the commerce ministry’s permanent secretary, told a briefing.

“But that won’t be enough to make exports turn positive this year… We’ll try to make exports contract the least,” he said, without giving a specific forecast.

Last month, he forecast exports would be flat or down by 1 percent this year.

A weak baht is also helping exports but geopolitical tensions could disrupt logistics, Keerati said. In January-September, exports declined 3.8 percent year-on-year.

Chaichan Chareonsuk, chairman of the Thai National Shippers’ Council, said the group forecast a 1 percent fall in exports this year.

In September, exports of agricultural products increased 18 percent year-on-year while agro-industrial products rose 5.4 percent . Rice export volumes rose 26.5 percent year-on-year to 807,776 metric tons and export value surged 51.4 percent year-on-year. -Reuters

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