Bloomberg reported that Thailand's industrial production fell for a 10th straight month in August, suggesting the nascent global economic recovery isn’t strong enough to increase demand for Asian goods.

Ms Amara Sriphayak, a Bank of Thailand director, said that manufacturing output dropped by 10.3% YoY after a revised 7.1% decline in July. She added that "Thailand's recession will ease this quarter and the economy will resume growth in the last three months of this year on public spending and a revival in global demand. The improvement in economic indicators will be gradual, even as exporters continue to receive orders."

She said that "Don’t expect all indicators to run up all the way. They increased markedly earlier. They need to adjust in line with demand. The deepening decline in manufacturing last month was partly due to temporary causes, as petroleum and tobacco production declined amid factory maintenance shutdowns and food production was affected by a shortage of materials."

Thai companies including Halcyon Technology Pcl and CSP Steel Center Pcl have said that they expect third quarter sales to rise on improving orders. Demand for electronics and hard disk drive exports should support production in the fourth quarter. Exports, which are equivalent to about 60% of Thailand’s economy, dropped by 17.9% to USD 13.2 billion in August from a year earlier. Shipments plunged 25.7% in July.

Thailand's imports fell by 33.8% in August to USD 10.9 billion after a revised 32.1% drop a month earlier. The trade surplus in August widened to USD 2.27 billion from USD 799 million a month earlier.

(Sourced from www.bloomberg.net)