The Office of Industrial Economics (OIE) said Wednesday that Thailand’s manufacturing production index (MPI) contracted by 17.21 per cent year-on-year to 79.04 index points in April, the lowest in 8 years.
This index also contracted 10.48 per cent year-on-year in March. The index has dropped for 12 months straight.
The OIE said the main reason for the drop in April was because many factories have chosen to temporarily halt production amid the slowdown of demand during the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The output of cars, petroleum and beer have all declined because of the ongoing travel restrictions and the ban on alcohol sales in April.
OIE’s deputy director-general Ittichai Yotsi said the capacity utilisation rate for car production was down to only 12.64 per cent in April.
However, the production of food and medicine has been increasing by double-digit numbers in the past 3 months.
For example, the production of food expanded for the first time in 9 months in April from the increased global demand for food.
The manufacturing of medicine has also increased by 38.52 per cent year-on-year in April, expanding at a double-digit rate for the third month in a row.
