Thailand's exports begin positive growth after flooding crisis

BANGKOK, March 28 (TNA) - Thai exports have been expanding, in the wake of the country's flooding crisis late last year, with overall shipments to overseas markets starting to grow positively for the first time in February 2012, since last November, a slight 0.91 per cent year-on-year increase. Thai Deputy Commerce Minister Phum Saraphol told reporters of the update Wednesday, saying that the country's total export last month stood at about 19.04 billion US dollars, mostly cushioned by exports of major Thai farm and industrial products, especially those of sugarcane which surged by 94.5 per cent, as well as those of chicken, frozen seafood, except shrimp, fruits and vegetables, tapioca, automobile parts and rubber products, although Thai exports of electrical and electronic products dropped. Phum acknowledged, however, that Thai exports in the first two months of this year, totally worth some 34.78 billion US dollar, shrank by 2.36 per cent compared with the same period of last year, as shipments to the major European and Japanese markets fell by 12.5 per cent and 6.9 per cent respectively, compared with the corresponding period in 2011, even though Thai exports to the main US and minor markets rose by 4 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively. The deputy commerce minister maintained Thailand's targeted export growth at 15 per cent year-on-year in 2012, based on the average Thai baht value at 31.36 baht a US dollar, cautioning, nonetheless, that remaining risk factors to the Thai economy include unstable world oil prices and foreign exchange rates, as well as impacts from the persisting European debt crisis. (TNA)