Containers are loaded at the Bangkok Port, Thailand. (Photo: AFP/VNA) Bangkok (VNA) - Thailand's customs-based exports fell10.9% in March from a year earlier, weaker than analysts' expectations whileexports to China and Japan fell 9.7% and 19.3%, respectively, according to theMinistry of Commerce.
The decline is higher than the forecast of a 4.5%year-on-year fall for March in a Reuters poll and followed a 3.6% increase inFebruary.
The country's exports fell 0.2% in the first quarter of this yearbut agriculture and computer parts will help shipments recover and expand2% in the second quarter, Director-General of theTrade Policy and Strategy Office Poonpong Naiyanapakorn told a press conference.
Exports, a key driver of Southeast Asia's second-largesteconomy, unexpectedly shrank 0.6% in the final quarter of 2023 from the third quarter,prompting the state planning agency to cut its 2024 growth outlook to between2.2%-3.2% from the 2.7%-3.7% earlier projected.
According to Chaichan Chareonsuk, Chairman of the ThaiNational Shippers Council, if the baht remained around current levels it couldhelp drive sales of auto parts, fruits and agricultural products./.
