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Strategies & Market Trends : China Warehouse- More Than Crockery -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (3583)	10/20/2004 4:23:27 PM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

Thai-China trade deficit in electronics to continue next year www.chinaview.cn 2004-10-20 17:39:29 BANGKOK, Oct. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Thailand's electronic sector will remain in trade deficit with China next year as cheap imports continue to flood its market, according to Thailand's Electrical and Electronics Institute. China's membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) duringthe past three years, which has brought vast amount of foreign investment into the country, is the main reason for the productionof cheap electronic goods and appliances, Charuek Hengrasmee, president of the Institute was quoted by the Business Day website as saying on Wednesday. He added that the lower raw material price and labor cost in China also contributed to the cut in production cost. Producing some 20-30 million electrical appliances annually, China has become a regional export production base for electronicssold in international markets. As one of China's major electronic export markets, Thailand's trade deficit with China has increased dramatically from one billion baht (about 24 million US dollars) to between 4 and 5 billion (96-120 million US dollars) over recent years. The trade deficit is unlikely to decline next year as both finished electronic products and electrical appliances from China are much cheaper than Thai brands, Charuek said. To curb the flooding of foreign products into Thai market, Charuek suggest Thai government impose industrial standards on imported products in the short-term. For the medium- and long-term, the government must encourage local producers to upgrade their products to compete with foreign brands and finally reduce the amount of import, he said. Charuek projected the country's export value of electronic goods and electrical appliances will expand by about 10 percent this year to 1.2 trillion baht (28.6 billion US dollars), against 1.1 trillion baht (26.2 million US dollars) last year. He said the current oil price hike and higher electricity pricewill not have a negative effect on the industrial sector as it accounts for only five percent of total production costs. However, the soaring steel prices will be felt by the sector asmetal accounts for as much as 50 percent of the total production cost. Enditem news.xinhuanet.com