Thailand’s manufacturing production highest in 23 months
After 2 years of falling, largely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Thailand’s manufacturing production index has grown for the first time in 23 months. The index, which measures manufacturing activity, hit 107.73 last month, which is the highest it has been since April of 2019. With a growth of 4.12% in the last year, the index had its strongest performance since October of 2018.
The Office of Industrial Economics monitors these figures and attributes the positive growth to Thailand’s trading partners having increased demand for Thai exports. They also pointed out though that growth is more easily achieved from the low bar set by last year’s Covid-19 hampered figures.
The Thai government implemented economic stimulus packages that helped boost production, along with the start of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout. Confidence was raised, and Thailand’s manufacturing capacity utilisation rates rose from 65.06% in February to 69.59% in March.
The numbers were slightly below the predicted 4.4% increase but were still the fastest growth pace in 29 months. Another increase is expected in April’s figures. Thai officials say that Thailand’s manufacturing sector is so far unaffected by the third wave of Covid-19 sweeping the country with much higher infections and deaths than previous waves. With the global economy improving, demand is up and production is capable of delivering. They predict a 2% to 3% rise in the MPI this year, a welcomed improvement over last years 9.3% drop.
