Thailand posts net surplus on agricultural trade
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Thailand's agricultural sector in the first half managed to gain from seven free trade agreements (FTAs) in the overall picture, despite losses to some trade partners, according to the Office of Agricultural Economics.
Secretary General Apichart Jongskul said that the data covered agricultural trade under FTAs with China, Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India and Peru, which have fully or partially become effective.
Based on the customs data, under the 7 FTAs, Thailand posted net agricultural trade suplus of Bt86.5 billion.
Based on the customs data, Thailand showed a surplus of Bt23.7 billion from trade with China, up 22 per cent from the same period last year. It also posted a surplus on trade with Korea worth Bt9.11 million, up 11 per cent on year. Trade surplus with Japan was the highest, at Bt70 billion, or an increase of 8 per cent.
Thailand however booked deficits worth Bt6.5 billion from trade with India, due to higher volume of fishery product and feedmill imports; and Bt4.4 billion with New Zealand on powder milk imports.
Once posting surpluses on trade with Australia and Peru, the Kingdom in the first half posted deficits of Bt4.2 billion and Bt584 million with the two countries, due to the higher prices of wheat flour and fresh grapes, respectively. The 30 per cent tariff on Peruvian fresh grapes was abolished immediately after the FTA with the country took effect this year.
"The situation was more volatile than last year, due to internal and external factors. Notably, Thailand's rice and grain exports dropped sharply from the same period last year," Apichart said.
