Thailand: Manufacturing output picks up steam in January
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Notable contractions in the manufacturing of textiles and of machinery and equipment were offset by solid growth in the production of food products; wearing apparel; and motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers.
In seasonally-adjusted month-on-month terms, however, manufacturing output contracted 1.7% in December, significantly below the prior month’s revised 0.6% contraction (previously reported: -0.8% month-on-month).
Despite the month-on-month drop in production output, annual average growth in manufacturing output inched up to 1.7% from 1.6% in December, the highest reading since March 2017.
FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect manufacturing output to grow 2.4% in 2018, which is up 0.3 percentage points from last month’s estimate. For 2019, the panel expects manufacturing output to increase 2.3%. ■