Economies of Thailand's trading partners slow down

BANGKOK, July 30 (TNA) - Thailand’s exports dwindled for the second consecutive month in June 2013, caused by an economic slowdown in the country’s major trading partners, including the United States, Europe, Japan, China and even other member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Nopporn Thepsitta, President of the Thai National Shippers’ Council, told journalists of the update on Tuesday, acknowledging that Thai exports last month fell 3.38 per cent year-on-year, equivalent to about 19.1 billion US dollars. Nopporn attributed the fall to the decline in Thai exports of agricultural products, especially rice which shrank by 18.85 per cent year-on-year alone, as well as exports of furniture and house decorative items which dwindled by 40 per cent year-on-year. According to the chief of the Thai National Shippers’ Council, Thailand’s exports expanded by only 0.95 per cent during the first half of 2013, when the country earned 113.3 billion US dollars in export revenues. The Thai National Shippers’ Council, meanwhile, projected that Thailand’s exports this year should grow by 3 per cent year-on-year on the condition that earnings from national exports stand at 20.4 billion US dollars monthly on average during the rest of this year. (TNA)