Thailand shippers see exports contracting 1% this year

THAILAND - BANGKOK. Thailand's shipping body said on Tuesday it had cut its 2019 export forecast to a 1% decline from a 1% rise, in its third downgrade in two months, due to weaker global demand and a stronger baht.

Exports, a key driver of Southeast Asia's second-largest economy, dropped 2.7% in January-May from a year earlier. May's export decline of 5.8% was worse than forecast.

"A chance of export growth is very dim... so, we expect exports to fall 1% this year," Ghanyapad Tantipipatpong, chairwoman of the Thai National Shippers' Council, told reporters. "If we are lucky, exports may be flat".

The group's initial forecast was for 5% growth before it was cut to 3% growth in May and 1% growth in June.

The baht's strength is also a concern, she said.

The currency has appreciated about 6% against the U.S. dollar so far this year, becoming the best performing currency in Asia.

In 2018, Thai shipments rose 6.7%. 

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