BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s exports in July rose at their slowest pace in more than a year as global economic growth slowed and supply chain disruptions increasingly affected shipments of industrial goods, the commerce ministry said on Friday.
Exports, a key driver of Thai growth, increased 4.3% in July from a year earlier, far below a forecast 11.15% rise in a Reuters poll, and against June’s 11.9% increase.
In the first seven months of 2022, exports rose 11.5% from the same period a year ago, already exceeding the ministry’s full-year target of 4-5% growth, Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit told a news conference.
Exports should beat the target for the year, helped by higher global demand for food, relaxed pandemic curbs globally, lower freight rates, and a weak baht, Jurin said.
However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a shortage of semiconductors will continue to pressure shipments, he said.
In July, exports of farm and agro-industrial products rose 14.6% year on year, but shipments of industrial goods grew 0.1%, with exports of vehicles and parts down 3%, the ministry said in a statement http://www.tpso.moc.go.th/sites/default/files/inter_trade_monthly/2565/press_release_eng_jul_22_final.pdf.
Lockdown measures in some major Chinese cities also interrupted production and lengthened delivery times, it said.
Among key export markets, shipments to the United States rose 4.7% from a year earlier and those to Southeast Asia jumped 22.6%.
Shipments to China slumped 20.6% year on year.
July imports surged 23.9% from a year earlier, slightly more than forecast, with a trade deficit of $3.66 billion in the month, a more-than-three year high.
The minister said that was mainly because of more costly oil imports.
(Reporting by Orathai Sriring, Kitiphong Thaichareon and Satawasin Staporncharnchai; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor)
