Thai exports slip 0.1% in June year-on-year, imports slump

[BANGKOK] Thailand's customs-cleared exports fell less than expected in June, helped by shipments of cars and gold, commerce ministry data showed on Wednesday, but demand from some major markets remained weak.

Exports declined 0.1 per cent from a year earlier, compared with the median forecast for a fall of 2.02 per cent in a Reuters poll.

Shipments to China fell 11.9 per cent from a year earlier and ones to Japan dropped 3.8 per cent. But exports to the United States rose 4.7 per cent and those to Europe were up 0.9 per cent.

In May, total shipments fell 4.4 per cent on the year following two months of rises, which were distorted by high exports of gold.

Thai exports, worth about two-thirds of the country's economic output, have contracted in each of the past three years.

The central bank has forecast exports will fall again this year, by 2.5 per cent.

REUTERS