BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s customs-based exports contracted for a sixth straight month in March, falling 4.2% from a year earlier, the commerce ministry said on Wednesday, as global demand slows.
The decline was less severe, however, than the forecast for a year-on-year drop of 14.0% for March in a Reuters poll, and followed February’s 4.7% decline.
Exports of agricultural and industrial products improved in March, the ministry said in a statement.
In March, imports dropped 7.1% from a year earlier, compared with a forecast fall of 4.7%, resulting in a trade surplus of $2.72 billion for the month.
Last month, the ministry maintained its target of 1%-2% export growth for this year.
(Reporting by Orathai Sriring, Kitiphong Thaichareon and Satawasin Staporncharnchai; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Edmund Klamann)
