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ItalThai to open Volvo machinery
dealership in Chonburi
ItalThai Industrial Co.
will open a Volvo Construction Equipment sales office in Chonburi by month’s
end.
Pratchaya Kerdthong
Volvo Construction Equipment distributor ItalThai
Industrial Co. will open a sales office in Chonburi as part of its efforts
to become Volvo’s third largest machinery dealer by 2015.
Atipong Pongwhan, head of ItalThai’s Machinery Solutions
Group, and Volvo representative Rick Chiam, showed off the range of heavy
machinery at a Volvo Health & Wellness Road Show at the Amari Orchid and
Tower June 9.
Atipong said a Bangphra branch will open by month’s end
as the company looks for new Eastern Seaboard customers. The company
considered the east a fast-growing market and that its office will be open
24 hours a day.
Chiam noted that ItalThai has been a Volvo distributor for 40 years,
predominantly selling 20-ton heavy truck cranes used in mining. ItalThai, he
said, is the company’s fourth-largest dealer of such machinery with a goal
to move up to third within four years.
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Thai exports grow 17.6% in May
Thai exports in May grew by 17.6 percent, rising to US$19.46
billion while the country’s exports in the first five months of this year grew
25.2 percent, valued to US$93 billion, according to Commerce Minister Pornthiva
Nakasai.
Meanwhile, imports in May amounted to US$19 billion, an
increase of 33.8 percent, so Thailand enjoyed trade surplus of US$ 277 million
for the month and US$ 2.17 billion for the first five months of this year.
Exports of agricultural goods expanded by nearly two-thirds -
at 58.8 percent - while rice exports expanded by 99 percent in accordance with
the government’s strategy.
However, automotive exports dropped 22.8 percent while auto
exports fell by 36.9 percent but auto part exports increased by 1.9 percent.
Pornthiva said she believed that the Japanese economy will soon recover and
Thailand’s automotive exports will return to normal.
Thailand benefits from seven Free Trade Agreements, including
Japan, China, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and the ASEAN countries
(ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, AFTA) she said. Exports are valued US$10.38
billion, an 18.4 percent growth. Thailand used FTA privileges by 34 percent or
US$ 3.5 billion, an increase of 76 percent.
In the first five months from January to May this year,
exports were worth US$49.57 billion, a growth of 20.8 percent, with imports
recorded at US$ 53.153 billion, a growth of 25.6 percent. The country’s trade
deficit was recorded at US$3.68 billion. Despite the trade deficit under the
FTAs, the trade agreements helped Thailand expand the markets, the commerce
minister said.
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Rice exporters see
continued higher
prices for Thai grain
The price of Thai rice is rising and could reach Bt10,000
per tonne in the second half of this year, according to Thai Rice Exporters
Association. Association president Korbsook Iamsuri spoke
at the Thailand Rice Convention, linking public and private sector
participants from over 50 countries to exchange knowledge and to push
Thailand as the world hub for rice markets.
The price of unmilled paddy stands at Bt9,000-9,500, the
price of Thai rice exports per tonne is at US$580-590. The higher prices are
due to it being the end of the growing season and some rice mills stock up
their rice for profit speculation in case of a rice mortgage programme,
which will push the price of Thai rice higher.
Meanwhile, Commerce Minister Pornthiva Nakasai said the
ministry will introduce measures to export at least 10 million tonnes of
unmilled rice in order that Thailand can maintain its position as the
world’s premier rice exporter.
According to Pornthiva, Thailand exported 9.05 million
tonnes of rice last year, amounting to US$5.3 billion. The country is
expected to produce over 20.26 million tonnes of rice this year.
However, the private sector is concerned that if the
price of Thai rice does not reflect market movements, foreign rice buyers
will opt instead to buy rice from other countries. Thai sellers prefer the
rice price guarantee policy to the rice mortgage programme, for the former
does not impact the market mechanism.
The quantity of Thai rice exported in the first half of
this year reached almost 6 million tonnes.
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