*
March exports -4.2% y/y vs -14.0% in Reuters poll
*
March imports -7.1% y/y vs -4.7% in poll
*
Trade surplus at $2.72 bln vs deficit of $1.07 bln in poll
*
Ministry still targets export growth of 1%-2% this year
(Adds details, key exports, markets, finance minister's
comment)
BANGKOK, April 26 (Reuters) - Thailand's customs-based
exports contracted less than expected in March as some key
shipments improved, and the commerce ministry said on Wednesday
it was expecting some export growth for the full year.
Exports, a key driver of growth, dropped 4.2% in March from
a year earlier, far better than the forecast for a year-on-year
drop of 14% for March in a Reuters poll.
March's export value of $27.65 billion was the highest in a
year, the ministry said.
"Despite the export fall, it's still considered very good,"
Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, head of the ministry's Trade Policy and
Strategy Office, told a news conference.
The ministry is maintaining its target of 1%-2% export
growth this year, he added.
Thailand posted a trade surplus for the first time in a year
of $2.72 billion in March, versus a forecast deficit of $1.07
billion, as imports showed a year-on-year 7.1% drop.
A baht exchange rate of 34 to 35 per dollar was
favourable for exports, said Chaichan Chareonsuk, head of the
Thai National Shippers' Council.
Separately, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith told
reporters that exports should pick up around the middle of the
year, helped by shipments of farm products and cars.
Exports of agricultural and agro-industrial products rose
4.2% in March from a year earlier, while shipments of passenger
cars rose 8.7% but hard disk drives dropped 13.8%.
March's exports to the United States rose 1.7% year-on-year
while those to Japan rose 10.2%. Exports to China dropped 3.9%
from a year earlier.
In January-March, exports declined 4.5% from a year earlier,
with imports down 0.5% and a trade deficit at $3 billion.
(Reporting by Orathai Sriring, Kitiphong Thaichareon and
Satawasin Staporncharnchai, Panarat Thepgumpanat; Writing by
Orathai Sriring; Editing by Gerry Doyle)
