BANGKOK: Thailand’s exports in June dropped by a bigger-than-expected 23.17% from a year earlier, the weakest pace since July 2009, as the coronavirus pandemic hit global demand, the commerce ministry said on Friday.
The decline compared with a poll forecast for a fall of 15.5% in exports, and against May’s 22.5% contraction.
Exports, a key driver of Thai growth, could decline by 8%-9% this year, Pimchanok Vonkorpon, head of the ministry’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office, told a briefing.
“Exports should have bottomed out but a recovery may not be fast,” she said, adding exports had fallen by 15.2% year-on-year in the second quarter.
Most export markets contracted in June, but shipments to the United States rose 14.5% from year-earlier and ones to China increased 12%, Pimchanok said.
The June export fall was led by shipments of cars and car parts, which tumbled 43.2% from a year earlier, while gold exports fell 86% and plastic pellets were down 15%.
In the first half of 2020, exports decreased 7.09% from a year earlier. – July 24, 2020, Reuters
