BANGKOK: Thai exports continued declined 6% in August becoming the eighth consecutive fall this year due mainly to the sluggish recovery of global economy.
Director-general of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office of the Commerce Ministry Somkiat Trirattanapan revealed that exports in the month of August have amounted to US$17.6 billion, a decrease of about 6.69%.
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He said this was a continual decline for eight straight months.
The export fall brought the total exports during the past eight months to be lower by 4.9 percent, with imports during the same period decreasing by about 8 percent.
However the figure represented a trade surplus of about US $ 5 billion for the first eight months of the year.
According to the director-general, the main reasons for slower Thai exports are due to the slowly reviving global economy and the economies of main trade partners, such as the United States, Europe, Japan and China.
He also said the world oil price has also remained sluggish, where the price has already lowered by 46.9 percent during the past 8 months of the year.
Agricultural produce prices in the world market have also gravely decreased, added Mr. Somkiat, pointing out the price of rice has lowered by 8.5 percent, while rubber price has declined by 19.7 percent, causing export values to sharply reduce.
Nonetheless, the Trade Policy and Strategy Office would retain its export forecast at a deficit of 3 percent, though all export strategies would be revised by November.
Meanwhile Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantaraporn yesterday advised the Department of Foreign Trade (DFT) to revise its management plans for the country’s main agricultural produce such as rice and cassava.
