Thai April exports fall 2.57% y-o-y, in line with forecast

[BANGKOK] Thailand's customs-cleared exports fell 2.57 per cent in April from a year earlier, after contracting 4.88 per cent in March, due mainly to reduced shipments of electronics, the commerce ministry said on Wednesday.

The April decline compared with a Reuters poll forecast of 2.5 per cent drop in shipments, the main driver of Thai growth.

Shipments to China fell 5 per cent in April from a year earlier, while ones to the United States rose 4.7 per cent, a ministry official said.

In April, imports dropped 0.72 per cent from a year earlier, after declining 7.63 per cent in March. The poll forecast was for a fall in April of 4.6 per cent.

April had a trade deficit of US$1.46 billion, compared with a forecast of a US$490 million deficit, and March's US$2 billion surplus.

In January-April, exports contracted 1.86 per cent from a year earlier while imports declined 1.08 per cent. 

REUTERS