Thailand maintains trade surplus in 3qs 2018

BANGKOK, October 22 (TNA) - The Thai Ministry of Commerce reports that the country has maintained its trade surplus so far this year although the ongoing trade war between the United States and China has begun having some negative impacts on Thai exports. Pimchanok Vonkorpon, Director-General of the ministry's Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO), told journalists of the update on Monday, stating that Thailand's trade surplus exceeded 2.8 billion US dollars during the first three quarters of this year, as the country's exports and imports stood at about 189.73 billion US dollars and about 186.89 billion US dollars during the same period. Pimchanok conceded, however, that Thailand's exports have begun facing some negative impacts from the ongoing trade war between the United States and China, with the country's shipments to the immense Chinese and the US economies last month dropped by 14.1 per cent year-on-year and 1.2 per cent year-on-year respectively. The TPSO chief said that Thai exports, thus, shrank for the first time in 19 months in September 2018, standing at about 20.70 billion US dollars or contracting by 5.2 per cent year-on-year. The TPSO chief acknowledged, however, that Thai exports had expanded by 8.13 per cent year-on-year on average during the first three quarters of this year. Meanwhile, Banjongjit Angsusingh (บรรจงจิตต์ อังศุสิงห์), Director-General of the ministry's Department of International Trade Promotion, expressed her confidence that more Thai exports to many other potential markets, including Europe, as well as Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam, known as the CLMV group, in the last quarter of this year should offset those declining in the US and the Chinese markets, especially the country's growing exports of farm products, which are now targeted to surpass 20 billion US dollars this year. The senior official, thus, projected that Thailand's export growth in 2018 should meet her ministry's target of at least 8 per cent year-on-year on average. (TNA)