Industrial confidence up in July

Industrial confidence up in July

The industrial confidence index continued to rise for the third consecutive month in July, to 89.7 from 88.4 in the previous month, according to the Federation of Thai Industries.

Chairman Supant Mongkolsuthree attributed the optimism to more stable politics as evidenced by higher domestic orders received by small and medium-sized enterprises although some industries saw seasonal declines.

Operators were keen about border trade, plans for special economic zones and the focus on production-cost cuts to improve competitiveness.

Their concern revolved around the European Union's decision to cut GSP to which they responded by adjusting themselves to cope with more intense competition.

Overall, operators were less concerned about the world economy, world oil prices and local political situation but they were more worried about foreign exchange rates. Lending interest rates were steady.

"The operators wanted the government to set a clear direction and economy policy to bolster investors' confidence. They also would like to see accelerated budget disbursements to help stimulate the economy, more cooperation with neighbouring countries to facilitate movements of goods, manufacturing factors and labour for border trade, and state-sponsored research and development budgets for SMEs," he said.

Surapong Paisitpattanapong, spokesman for the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI)'s automotive industry club, said automobile production plummeted 24.89% to 151,000 units in July, bringing total production in the first seven months of the year to 1.1 million units, down 28.46%.

The major factor continued to be the end of the first-time car buyer programme.

Auto sales stood at 69,200 units, down 29.5% year-on-year and 6.14% on month, bringing total sales in the first seven months of the year to 510,000 units, down 39.2%.

Auto exports, however, continued to show growth in July, at 91,700 units, up 8.92%. By value, the shipments rose 9.73% to 43.7 billion baht. When combined exports of engines, components and parts, the value increased 4.6% to 63.90 billion baht.

For the first seven months of the year, auto exports rose 4.31% to 651,000 units or 308 billion baht, up 9.01%. With engines, components and parts, the shipments totalled 456 billion baht, up 9.33%.

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