BANGKOK: Thailand’s customs-cleared exports surged well above expectations in March, after declining in the previous month, helped by strong demand for rubber and computers, in an encouraging sign for the export-dependent economy still trying to gain a firmer footing.
Exports jumped 9.2 per cent in March from a year earlier after February’s 2.8 per cent drop, commerce ministry data showed on Monday.
A Reuters poll expected an annual rise of 1.90 per cent in March. Shipments are worth about two-thirds of Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.
A global economic recovery and higher oil prices boosted Thai exports in March, said Pimchanok Vonkhorporn of the Commerce Ministry at a briefing.
“Demand from China and India was a record,” she said. The commerce ministry aims for export growth of 5 per cent this year after a rise of 0.45 per cent in 2016, the first annual growth increase in four years.
Imports in March also beat expectations with a 19.3 per cent surge from a year earlier, compared with the forecast of a 9.55 per cent increase and February’s 20.4 per cent jump.
The March trade numbers produced a trade surplus of US$1.62 billion, compared with a poll forecast of US$1.72 billion and February’s $1.61 billion surplus.
Many of the materials Thailand imports are assembled into completed goods and shipped out again. -- REUTERS