Thai shippers group sees 2023 exports between 0.5% fall and 1% growth

THAILAND’S exports are expected to record between a 0.5 per cent drop and a 1 per cent rise this year, unchanged from a previous forecast, the Thai National Shippers’ Council said on Tuesday (Aug 8).

Slowing global production has affected demand for exporters, Chaichan Chareonsuk, chair of the council, told a briefing.

However, exports, a key driver of Thai growth, should be helped by shipments of some agricultural products and automobiles in the remaining five months, he said.

India’s rice export ban should offer Thailand, the world’s second-largest rice exporter, a good opportunity to sell rice with higher prices, said group vice chair Suparp Suwanpimolkul.

The group expects rice exports of 8.5 million metric tons this year.

In the first half of 2023, exports contracted 5.4 per cent from a year earlier, having contracted for nine months in a row, customs data showed. REUTERS