SHIPPERS ADRIFT

Exporters repeat their call for the Bank of Thailand to come up with measures to rein in the strong baht.

Exporters have repeated their call for the Bank of Thailand to come up with measures to rein in the strong baht, warning that ailing exports will go from bad to worse with the currency left unharnessed.

Nopporn Thepsithar, president of the Thai National Shippers’ Council, said an appropriate rate for the baht against the US dollar is 34.50 baht. Anything stronger would hurt not just exports but also the overall economy, he said.

The baht was quoted yesterday at 34.5534.57 to the dollar.

“Shipments are being hit hard by several negative factors, including the slower-thanexpected economic recovery and foreign exchange swings,” Mr Nopporn said.

“Even worse, exports are facing new challenges from the World Health Organization, which listed Thailand as one of the high-risk countries for Zika and Mers virus transmission, leading China to impose stricter inspections on Thai goods to prevent bugs that are the carriers of disease.”

Despite better price prospects for products such as cotton, rubber, steel and fish, the prices of sugar, chicken and wheat remain low, said Mr Nopporn.

The Commerce Ministry last week reported that exports fell for the fourth straight month in July, with the contraction widening to 4.4% year-on-year that month against 0.1% in June. Exports similarly contracted 4.4% in May after plunging 8% in April.

July’s exports fetched US$17.4 billion (601.7 billion baht), with imports totalling $16.2 billion, down 7.2% year-on-year.

Thailand had a trade surplus of $13.6 billion in July — its 15th straight month with a positive trade balance.

The ministry reported that exports of agricultural and agribusiness products shrank by 18.6% to $2.34 billion, led by rice (-35.1%), rubber (-34.8%), sugar (-33.8%) and tapioca products (-28.4%).

Exports of i ndustrial products fell again in July by 0.4% to $14.07 billion after expanding for the first time in three months in June, when they jumped 3.1% to $84.3 billion.

“We’re quite sure that exports will contract for the fourth straight year in 2016,” Mr Nopporn said.