Commerce reveals September export figures increased by 1.1 percent, exports in the first 9 months expanded by 3.9%, economies in the United States and Europe are starting to recover, hoping that exports for the whole of 2024 will exceed the target of 2 percent.
Mr. Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, Director of the Office of Trade Policy and Strategy, Ministry of Commerce, revealed that exports in September 2024 were worth 25,983 million US dollars (889,074 million baht), expanding by 1.1 percent, expanding for the 3rd consecutive month as economies in major markets such as the United States and the European Union began to recover from the easing of inflation. The trade situation in September 2024 had a trade surplus of 394.2 million US dollars, causing Thailand’s export trade in the first 9 months of 2024 to expand by 3.9 percent, and when excluding oil, gold, and military equipment, it expanded by 4.2 percent, with exports worth 223,176 million US dollars, expanding by 3.9 percent compared to the same period last yea
r. Imports were worth 229,132 million US dollars, expanding by 5.5 percent, with a trade deficit of 5,956 million US dollars in the first 9 months. It is admitted that the ASEAN market contracted by 6.7 percent (considered to be the first contraction in 3 months). Important products that contracted include automobiles, equipment and components, and refined oil. and computers caused the first 9 months of 2024 to contract by 0.3 percent.
The Ministry of Commerce has set export promotion plans and export trends, such as strengthening trade relations with South Korea. At the 2nd Thailand-South Korea Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiation meeting in Seoul, they requested to open the market for high-quality and standard Thai agricultural products, such as mangoes, mangosteens, pineapples, fresh and processed shrimps, fresh and processed chicken, etc. They also agreed to negotiate the EPA agreement to further strengthen the relationship. They also promoted Soft Power by granting the Thai SELECT symbol to
4 Thai restaurants in South Korea.
Strengthening trade cooperation with China to reduce the trade deficit, attract more Chinese investment in the EEC, especially semiconductor and printed circuit board (PCB) products, as well as opening up more channels for Thai products to enter the Chinese e-Commerce platform, as well as moving forward with the International Live Commerce Expo 2024, with representatives from government and private agencies, Chinese and Thai KOLs, and over 100 influencers bringing Thai products to sell live, covering all industries.
The Ministry of Commerce expects that exports in the fourth quarter of 2024, despite facing several challenges such as the election in the United States, geopolitical issues, the appreciation of the baht, flooding issues affecting agricultural production, changes in India’s rice export policy, which may affect Thai rice exports, still see that exports for the whole of 2024 are expected to exceed the target by 2 percent, with a chance to set a new record high wi
th an export value exceeding 290,000 million US dollars.
Source: Thai News Agency