June 19 (Bloomberg) -- Thailand’s exports fell the most since at least 1992 in May as the worst global recession since the Great Depression eroded demand for products.
Shipments dropped 26.6 percent from a year earlier to $11.7 billion, Permanent Secretary for Commerce Siripol Yodmuangcharoen said in Bangkok today. That’s the steepest slide since Bloomberg began tracking the data and compares with a 26.1 percent contraction in April.
The contraction in exports may ease in the coming months as manufacturers including Hana Microelectronics Pcl and KCE Electronics Pcl ship more products. Thailand’s industrial output fell the least in five months in April as manufacturers resumed filling orders after customers started rebuilding stockpiles in anticipation of improving demand.
“We are still walking in a tunnel but we have started to see the light at the end,” said Kanit Sangsubhan, director of the Finance Ministry’s research institute and a Bank of Thailand board member. “Demand from China and the rest of Asia will help our exports.”
A pick up in export orders boosted manufacturing output in April, Amara Sriphayak, a Bank of Thailand official, said on May 29. Richard Han, chief executive officer at Hana, said the same day that demand had accelerated in May from April.
Imports fell 34.7 percent to $9.25 billion, the smallest decline since December, as manufacturers bought more components used to build exports. The drop follows a 36.3 percent slide in April. The trade surplus in May narrowed to $2.41 billion from a $595 million excess a month earlier.
Thailand’s economy shrank 7.1 percent in the first quarter after a collapse in exports, which make up about 70 percent of gross domestic product. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on June 9 “the worst is behind us” and he expects GDP will return to annual growth in 2010
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