General

Customs data shows that Thai exports have shown a decline for 7 consecutive months. According to official data released by the Ministry of Commerce, the total export value of Thailand in April 2023 was 21.723 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 7.6%. Amidst the sluggish global economic activity and the weak US economy, Thailand's exports to China may only be a flash in the pan. Institutions are concerned that the decline in exports in the second half of the year will exceed expectations, but officials have maintained their goal of increasing exports by 1-2% for the entire year.

According to customs data, the export value was 21.7232 billion US dollars, a contraction of 7.6%, and the export value was 23.195 billion US dollars, a contraction of 7.3%. This resulted in a current trade deficit of 1.4717 billion US dollars in April.

If we only look at the performance of customs data, this is the seventh consecutive month of decline in Thai exports, and it is also the month with the highest decline. Customs data shows that due to the significant decline in exports in April, Thailand's export decline in the first four months of this year also reached 5.2%. However, the Ministry of Commerce still maintains an optimistic outlook of a 1-2% increase in exports for the entire year. Although Thailand's exports to the United States have performed poorly due to high inflation, high commodity inventories, and economic downturn, exports to China are expected to rebound after an 11 month downturn. The report shows that Thailand's exports to the United States decreased by 9.6%, exports to Japan decreased by 8.1%, exports to the European Union decreased by 8.2%, and exports to the five ASEAN countries decreased by 17.7%. But China's expansion of 23% is partly due to the increase in exports of fruits such as durian from Thailand. The report states that it exports 470000 tons of durian to China, worth 60 billion baht, and hopes to replicate the eastern model to the south.

According to customs data, taking the export industry of agricultural products as an example, it expanded 8.2% year on year. The main export markets showing growth for six consecutive months are: Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, Vietnam, South Korea and Taiwan, China. On the other hand, industrial product exports shrank by 11.2%, with only automotive exports showing a slight improvement, indicating a continuous increase for four months.