BANGKOK: Thailand’s customs-cleared exports unexpectedly increased for a second straight month in September due to higher demand from major markets, an encouraging sign for the trade-dependent economy which is still struggling to regain traction.
Exports rose 3.4 percent from a year earlier, commerce ministry data showed on Wednesday, compared with the median forecast for a fall of 2.0 percent in a Reuters poll. In August, shipments also surprisingly increased 6.5 percent, boosted by auto shipments.
In September, imports were 5.6 percent higher from a year earlier, producing a trade surplus of $2.55 billion for that month.
Many imported materials are assembled into completed goods and shipped out again. In August, annual imports dipped 1.5 percent.
Thai exports, worth about two-thirds of the country’s economic output, have declined in each of the past three years.
The Bank of Thailand has predicted exports will fall 2.5 percent this year, but deputy governor Mathee Supapongse told Reuters on Tuesday shipments might perform better than forecast.
