Thai exports grow almost 8% in first half 2017

BANGKOK, August 1 (TNA) - Thai exports have grown 7.83 per cent year-on-year during the first half of this year and are expected to grow by 5 per cent year-on-year on average in 2017. Ghanyapad Tantipipatpong, Chairman of the Thai National Shippers' Council (TNSC), told journalists of the update on Tuesday, noting that TNSC has, thus, raised its projection on Thailand's export growth rate in 2017 to 5 per cent year-on-year on average, which is in line with the government's projection, from 3.5 per cent it forecast earlier. Ghanyapad said Thai exports during the first six months of this year stood at about 113.55 billion US dollars, with exports in June alone exceeding 20 billion US dollars, or about 11.7 per cent year-on-year expansion. In terms of the Thai currency, Ghanyapad revealed that Thai exports stood at about 693.43 billion baht in June, or a 7.9 per cent year-on-year growth. To reach the 5-per cent-year-on-year growth as targeted this year, the TNSC chief pointed out, however, that Thai exports should reach about 18.84 billion US dollars monthly during the second half of this year and the Thai baht should hover around 33.40-33.50 baht a US dollar and world oil prices should stand around 50 US dollars per barrel. Besides, the recovering economies of Thailand's major trading partners, more confidence in Thai products among importing markets, compared to products of other rival countries, and rising Thai exports of electronic and electrical goods anticipated during the 4th quarter of this year, are additional factors to help boost the country's export growth to meet the targeted rate this year. The TNSC chief cautioned that there are, on the other hand, remaining risk factors against Thai exports, including the strengthening Thai baht with its short-term fluctuation, which would affect small-scaled entrepreneurs until next year, and stable prices of Thai agricultural exports due to stable world oil prices, as well as impacts from the Thai government's imposition of a new executive decree on the management of migrant workers and international political issues, namely sanctions against Qatar by its neighboring Gulf states and against North Korea, Iran and Russia by the United States. Meanwhile, TNSC Vice Chairman Visit Limluecha assessed that heavy floods in the Thai Northeast currently should not affect Thai exports during the rest of the year, as TNSC members in the affected areas have reported that local rice fields have not much damaged by the current inundations. (TNA)