Thai Shippers Council forecasts 1.5% growth in exports this year

[Lite Beer]

Thai Shippers Council forecasts 1.5% growth in exports this year

BANGKOK: -- The Thai National Shippers Council (TNSC) has lowered its projection of the country’s export growth in 2015 to only 1.5 per cent from the 2.5 per cent forecast earlier.
It attributed negative factors that remain shadowing the industry.

TNSC chairman Nopporn Thepsithar said there were signs that Thailand’s export growth this year would fall to 1.5 per cent due to several negative factors..

They included an expected slowdown in global economy to 3 per cent in 2015, a cut in the Generalised System of Preferences by the European Union for several developing countries, including Thailand, a relocation of production bases to Thailand’s neighbouring countries, a shortage of labour, falling prices of agricultural products and the volatility of the Thai baht.

He expected the baht would strengthen to 32 baht against the US dollar during the first half of 2015 and would later weaken to 33 baht.

Exports to key markets, such as the United States are expected to grow only 5 per cent and to Japan 3 per cent while to European markets to decline 4 per cent, he said.

Thai exporters should find new overseas markets to replace current markets whose economies are projected to slow down while producers must also boost efficiency so that their products could compete abroad, he suggested.

On the declining oil prices by now as much as 40 per cent, he said cheaper oil prices won’t help increase exports during the first half of this year but will assist in the long-term if oil prices fall below 50 US dollars per barrel.

Thailand earned about 227.57 billion baht in exports in 2014, down 0.41 per cent from 2013.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/thai-shippers-council-forecasts-1-5-growth-exports-year

-- Thai PBS 2015-01-31

[Strangebrew]

Going to my translator program I found from what was said that you can add 1 and a half times to percentages given in article and be closer to the truth. so expect a 3% drop in trade a 10% increase on strength in US economy. The Baht going for 45 to 1 USD. Also expect Thais jumping from windows.

[Kooweerup]

So with foreign currency going down and the Thai baht to strengthen they expect to export more. Is that right? I would have thought that it would make thai products more expensive to buy and exports would drop.

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

So with foreign currency going down and the Thai baht to strengthen they expect to export more. Is that right? I would have thought that it would make thai products more expensive to buy and exports would drop.

Thai logic is not same as ours, you know we eat bread and they rice...

[shirtless]

Watch for future down grades as the year progresses why cant these guys live in the real world.

[NongKhaiKid]

Watch for future down grades as the year progresses why cant these guys live in the real world.

In a way he is because as the television ad goes, ' The World of Thai '.

[NeverSure]

"...a relocation of production bases to Thailand’s neighbouring countries..."

Wait five or ten years.

[elgordo38]

So with foreign currency going down and the Thai baht to strengthen they expect to export more. Is that right? I would have thought that it would make thai products more expensive to buy and exports would drop.

Nothing in todays topsy turvy world makes sense. Governments can fudge numbers to make them read whatever they want. Its called spin. You take bad news spin it and whala it turns into good news.

[elgordo38]

"...a relocation of production bases to Thailand’s neighbouring countries..."

Wait five or ten years.

Geeze I do not have that long

[Thai at Heart]

Reduced by the end of January.

[rickirs]

“The Thai National Shippers Council (TNSC) has lowered its projection of the country’s export growth in 2015 to only 1.5 per cent from the 2.5 per cent forecast earlier.”

Talk about a guessing game.

Two weeks ago, the Department of International Trade Promotion Director-General said “that the Ministry of Commerce will work in unison with the private sector to push the nation’s export figures this year to grow by a target of 4 percent, while many institutions have predicted the export figures to grow by 2.5 percent this year.”

Also about two weeks ago, deputy prime minister in charge of the economy Pridiyathorn Devakula “believes the export sector will expand by around 2 per cent this year.”

Yesterday,” the Fiscal Policy Office has made adjustments to the country’s economic growth projections for 2015 down to just 3.9% while forecasting export growth at only 1.4%.”

Meanwhile, the Junta is alienating Thailand from two important importers, the EU and USA. How long can Thailand afford the Junta to control its future?