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Jan exports -4.5% y/y vs -1.0% in Reuters poll
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Jan imports +5.5% y/y vs -3.4% in poll
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Trade deficit at $4.65 bln vs -$1.4 bln in poll
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Ministry sees exports down in H1 before rising in H2
(Recasts, adds data, comments from officials, shippers' group)
By Orathai Sriring and Kitiphong Thaichareon
BANGKOK, March 2 (Reuters) - Thailand's customs-based
exports fell for a fourth straight month and more than expected
in January as global demand slowed, with shipments expected to
contract further in the first half of the year, the Commerce
Ministry said on Thursday.
Exports, a key driver of growth, dropped 4.5% in January
from a year earlier, worse than a 1% fall forecast in a Reuters
poll, but better than December's 14.6% year-on-year slump.
Imports rose 5.5% in January from a year earlier as incoming
fuel shipments jumped, resulting in a trade deficit of $4.65
billion in January, the highest in a decade, the ministry said.
Exports are expected to slow further in the first half
before increasing in the latter half of the year, Phusit
Ratanakul Sereroengrit, head of the ministry's Department of
International Trade Promotion, told a news conference.
Exports should gradually improve in the second quarter but
will still be lower than a year earlier due to large global
stockpiles, he said.
"That has caused many countries to delay their imports, but
that should improve in the second half of the year," he added.
The ministry is sticking to its targeted export growth of 1%
to 2% this year, after a 5.5% increase in 2022.
However, the central bank said this week that exports could
contract this year.
Chaichan Chareonsuk, chairman of the Thai National Shippers'
Council, told the conference there were some positive signs for
exports, particularly the recovery of major export market,
China, which should boost demand for Thai shipments.
Global inventory issues and a shortage of microchips used in
cars should ease, and a weakening baht currency is also
helping exports, he added.
In January, exports of cars and parts rose 9.2% from a year
earlier while rice exports jumped. But shipments of other
industrial goods declined, with computers and parts down 21%
year-on-year, the ministry said in a statement.
January's exports to the United States dropped 4.7%
year-on-year while those to Southeast Asia fell 3.5%. Exports to
China declined 11.4% from a year earlier, the ministry said.
(Reporting by Orathai Sriring, Kitiphong Thaichareon, Satawasin
Staporncharnchai
Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor)
