Trade deficit hits $5.48 bn on demand for capital goods

“The stronger baht has also encouraged manufacturers to boost their imports of machinery and raw materials to support the growth of production,” Vatchari Vimooktayon, permanent secretary of the Commerce Ministry, said yesterday.
The ministry reported that exports last month advanced 16.09 per cent to $18.26 billion from January last year, continuing the uptrend from late last year.
Imports surged 40.87 per cent to $23.75 billion, the highest since the ministry started keeping trade figures.
The trade deficit was not a major concern, Vatchari said, as it was largely due to higher imports of gold and aircraft, which is not normal because gold has become cheaper, while higher imports of machinery and raw materials will lead to industry and export expansion.
Last month, Thai Airways Inter-national took delivery of three aircraft worth about $600 million. Gold imports were valued at $2.7 billion, the highest in one and a half years since September 2011 because of the falling price of gold in the world market.
Fuel imports last month soared 61 per cent to $3.99 billion. Processed oil jumped by 135.1 per cent to $384.1 million, crude oil by 42.4 per cent to $2.74 billion and natural gas by 190.6 per cent to $625.8 million.
Higher demand for energy imports was due to rising global fuel prices |and higher fuel consumption in the country.
Despite high imports, the ministry says it is confident that Thailand should not face a large trade deficit like |last year’s $18.07 billion because of stronger growth in shipments abroad, especially cross-border trading.
Exports should continue climbing this year by 8-9 per cent to between $247 billion and $250 billion, it says.
In January, export expansion was driven by industrial exports, up 20.9 per cent, and agriculture-industrial imports, up by 7.2 per cent.
Shipments to all markets were higher because of the step up in demand following many positive developments including stronger economic growth in China, the agreement to pursue finalisation of a Thailand-European Union free-trade agreement, and steady manufacturing growth.
Last month, exports to the EU increased by 24.5 per cent, to the United States by 16.7 per cent, to Japan by 7.3 per cent, to China by 19.4 per cent, to Asean by 18 per cent, to India by 5.9 per cent, and to Australia by 44.4 per cent.