Contraction seen for exports of electrical, electronic items

Director Somboon Hortrakool said the revision was due to many negative factors, including a big slowdown in export of hard-disk drives to China and the incomplete recoveries of European Union (EU) and Japanese markets. The US market cannot by itself make up for those situations, even though exports to the United States improved significantly in the first six months.
“Under the revision, we expect overall export of electrical and electronic products from Thailand to be around US$52.5 billion [Bt1.65 trillion] this year, down 3 per cent compared with last year,” Somboon said.
He said the export of such products to China had declined gradually over the past six months. Thailand exported about $1.43 billion worth of computer equipment to that country in the first half of this year, down 43 per cent from the same period of 2012. It also exported $154 million worth of small motors and $103 million of short-circuit-protection equipment and control panels to China in the first half, down 29 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.
The problem is that demand for hard-disk drives and personal computers in China has been declining significantly, although demand for smart phones and tablets is increasing. China is the second-largest export market for electronic products from Thailand.
He said overall export of electrical products reached $11.4 billion in the first half, up 1 per cent over the same period last year. Its major markets are Asean and Japan.
Divided by products, Thailand exported $2.1 billion worth of air-conditioners, up 11 per cent, as well as $953 million worth of video cameras, down 10 per cent, $807 million worth of refrigerators, up 13 per cent, $462 million worth of washing machines, up 30 per cent, and $438 million worth of televisions, down 6 per cent. Overall export of electronics reached $15.1 billion in the period, down 4 per cent compared with the first half of last year. The major export markets include the US, Asean and the EU.
Divided by products, the country exported $8.7 billion worth of computer equipment in the first six months of this year, down 13 per cent; $3.5 billion worth of integrated circuits, down 3 per cent; $598 million worth of senders and receivers for radio telegraph and radio and television sets, down 4 per cent; and $466 million worth of telephone and telegraph equipment, up 3 per cent.