Thai Shipping Industry Expects Exports To Contract This Year

BANGKOK (Thailand), Oct 31 (Bernama) -- Thailand's shipping industry expects the country's exports to contract by 0.4 per cent this year, although there was an improvement in September. This is due to the global economic situation and a decline in Thailand's export competitiveness, said Nopporn Thepsithar, President of the Thai National Shippers Council (TNSC). However, he expects Thailand's exports next year to increase by 2.5 per cent. In September, Thailand's exports increased 3.19 per cent to US$19.912 billion, while for the January-September period, it was still a negative 0.85 per cent at US$170.456 billion. --BERNAMA