January exports up 8.8%
Shipment target growth raised to 3.5%
Exports rose for the third straight month in January, prompting the government to raise its export target to more than 3.5% growth this year.
Authorities have also pledged to try their best to encourage export growth of 5%, as demanded by Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak.
The Commerce Ministry yesterday reported exports rose 8.8% year-on-year in January to US$17.1 billion (596 billion baht), boosted by recovering world trade, a gradual recovery of the global economy and higher oil and gold prices.
Shipments fared quite well in almost all key markets such as the US, Europe, Japan, Asean, China and South Asia.
Only those to Australia and the Middle East fell.
China was the market with the strongest growth at 30.8% in January, followed by South Asia at 24%, Europe (10.4%), Asean (10.3%) and the US (9.5%).
Shipments to the Middle East tumbled 19.2%, while those to Australia were down 0.3%.
Pimchanok Vonkorpon, directorgeneral of the ministry’s trade policy and strategy office, said exports of agricultural and agribusiness products rose 9.7% in January, fetching $1.67 billion, boosted by higher shipments particularly of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, which surged 48.8%, and rubber, up 28.2%.
Exports of industrial products also increased 7.64% to $13.5 billion, led by gold, which rose 158% year-on-year, finished oil, increasing 48.3%, and computers, up 30.1%.
In January, imports rose 5.17% from the same month in the previous year to $16.2 billion, yielding a trade surplus of $826 million.
“Higher shipments for the third straight month clearly reflect that Thai exports are on an upward trend in line with the better performance of world trade, boosted especially by the recovering economies of Thailand’s key trading partners, and higher global oil and farm commodity prices,” said Ms Pimchanok. “We thus hold the strong belief that exports will rise by at least 3.5% this year to about $222.86 billion or a monthly average of $18.57 billion, an increase from our projection of 2.5-3.5%.”
Ms Pimchanok said Thailand needed to fetch a monthly average of $18.8 billion if the country wants to achieve the deputy prime minister’s ambitious growth target.
Mr Somkid, who led a joint meeting with Thai commercial counsellors worldwide last Monday, has set a lofty goal of 5% export growth for this year, well outstripping the projection of 2.9% by the National Economic and Social Development Board.
He reiterated his call for the Commerce Ministry to push strategic partnership talks in tandem with free trade agreement negotiations with potential partners such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, China and South Korea.