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'Export essential goods to Spain'
Exporters were advised yesterday to focus more on sending essential goods to Spain after shipments to that market shrivelled up largely because of the financial crunch there.
Prakhan Kordumrong, director of the Thai Trade Centre in Spain, said exports from Thailand to Spain plunged 35 per cent year on year to US$293 million (Bt9.28 billion) in the first four months of 2012 because of sluggish demand for many products, particularly durable goods.
The Thai products facing slow sales are rubber and products, garments, air-conditioners and chemical products.
However, demand for necessities, including food, is still high.
Spain has the fourth-largest economy in the European Union but the financial meltdown in the country has pushed unemployment up to 24.3 per cent, causing consumption to dip. – The Nation
2.1GHz price set soon
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission will finalise the reserve price for a 2.1-gigahertz spectrum licence next week and finish drafting the information memorandum for the licence auction next month.
The reserve price is the floor for the 2.1GHz spectrum to be available for the auction. The IM, which will contain all auction details, is expected to be published in the Royal Gazette in August before the spectrum is sold to the highest bidders in the third quarter.
The NBTC will offer nine slots of bandwidth, each 5 megahertz wide. The price of a slot is expected to fall in the range of Bt4 billion to Bt5 billion. – The Nation
Egco buys into RP plant
Electricity Generating Group on Monday completed the acquisition of a 45.8-per-cent interest in the Quezon power-plant project in the Philippines from InterGen Group. Egco now owns 98 per cent of the project and is the manager and operator of the power plant.
The project consists of a 503-megawatt (gross) coal-fired electricity-generating plant and a 31-kilometre transmission line in Quezon province on the island of Luzon. The plant commenced commercial operations in May 2000 and sells its output under a 25-year agreement with Manila Electric Company. – The Nation
Pico eyes 20% growth
Leading event organiser Pico (Thailand) aims to reach its target of a 20-per-cent growth rate by the end of this year, thanks to its own shows and new backlog.
CEO Silchai Kiatpapan said yesterday that the company had signed contracts to organise big events until early next year. This backlog is worth Bt160 million, but he cannot disclose the names of the events and the show owners.
Of this future revenue, 35 per cent will come from the MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) business, 38 per cent from marketing events and the remainder from contents and the media business.
Pico will stage a couple of its own shows, namely Educa 2012 at Impact Muang Thong Thani from October 10-12 and Southeast Asia’s Natural Gas for Vehicles Conference and Exhibition at Bitec from November 1-3. – The Nation
S African fruit on way
South Africa, the world’s largest citrus exporter after Spain and Turkey, will start shipping oranges, mandarins, lemons and grapefruit to Thailand, its Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said on Monday.
Fruits to be exported to the Kingdom must be from commercial orchards that have been registered with and preapproved by the Pretoriabased department, it said. The two nations started talks on opening the market 14 years ago, the department said.
South Africa exported 1.38 million tonnes of fresh citrus in the 201011 season, shipping the most oranges after Spain and the most grapefruit after the US, according to the Citrus Growers Association of Southern Africa’s 2012 statistics report.
“We have the potential to export 1 million cartons to Thailand,” said Paul Hardman, spokesman at the association, referring to a 15kilogram package. – Bloomberg
