MPI drops 5.3% in Songkran month of April

The sluggish global economy also depressed exports, especially of hard disk drives (HDDs), televisions, ornaments and electrical appliances, Siriruj Chulakaratana, deputy director of the Industry Ministry’s Industrial Economics Office, said yesterday.

The automobile industry’s domestic output declined, but outbound output increased.

Vehicle production for April decreased 2.2 per cent to 123,968 units from the same month last year. Domestic vehicle sales declined 26.2 per cent to 54,058 units, while vehicle exports rose 17.7 per cent to 82,130 units.

The 19.2-per-cent year-on-year contraction in electronics contributed to the 19.6-per-cent lower output of electric appliances and electronics in April. The weaker demand for personal computers reduced HDD output by 26.2 per cent.

Output for integrated circuits increased by 6.6 per cent and for semiconductors by 11.8 per cent, because of the increasing demand for mobile communication devices worldwide, including major markets such as the United States, where the economy has begun to show signs of improvement.

The electrical-appliance industry shrank 21.4 per cent year on year because of sluggish domestic consumer spending and weaker demand from markets abroad such as Europe and Japan.

Manufacturing output for split-type (fan coil/compressor) air-conditioners was down by 2.8 per cent, refrigerators by 20.3 per cent, portable water boilers by 5.90 per cent, rice cookers by 22.37 per cent and televisions by 30.3 per cent and 87.6 per cent.

The exception was split-type air-conditioners, which rose by 2.9 per cent.

In the iron and steel industry, domestic steel consumption slid 3.0 per cent year on year to 1.3 million tonnes. Manufacturing output declined 8.9 per cent to 401,000 tonnes. Steel exports sank 11.0 per cent to US$75 million, while steel imports also lost 11.7 per cent to $580 million. Fewer flat steel products were made in line with the drop in vehicle manufacturing.

Imports of relatively cheaper hot-rolled steel sheets from Iran and Brazil increased. The outputs of and the demand for long steel products also fell in line with the flat construction activities in the private sector.

Garment and textile output is projected to grow by 6.2 per cent year on year because of the strengthening of domestic demand and purchase orders from Asean nations.

However, cloth output dropped by 12.2 per cent as manufacturers maintained high inventories and some consumers opted to import their clothes after domestic ones did not meet their requirements.

Manufacturing output of ready-to-wear garments fell by 2.5 per cent in line with domestic demand.

Garment and textile exports fell by 11.2 per cent in line with weakening demand from main export markets, such as Indonesia, Turkey, India and Bangladesh. Exports of cloth in Asean (Vietnam) dropped by 4.7 per cent.

Exports of ready-to-wear garments declined by 4.0 per cent on lower purchase orders from Japan, the US and the European Union, partly because of the EU’s termination of Thailand’s privileges under the Generalised System of Preferences on January 1.

Food output fell by 15.3 per cent because of lower sugar production, attributed to the lower number of working days during the Songkran Festival month of April.

Exports of food-related goods rose by 0.6 per cent because of the improving economies of some food-importing nations, including the US.

However, the uncertainties of the Russia-Ukraine-EU conflict have stymied the growth of Thai food exports, as well as the sluggish Thai economy, which weighs on domestic consumption and consumer purchasing power.