Yuthasak Supasorn, the NFI director, said commodities would be hardest hit due to the plunge in demand and prices. "First-quarter food exports are projected at 153.5 billion baht, down 11.6%, while the contraction would exceed 20% for the second and third quarters before picking up in the last quarter. It will be the hardest year for food exporters despite declining production costs as the world's liquidity crisis has directly affected consumer purchasing power.
Kukrit Arepagorn, manager of the Thai Broiler Processing Exporters Association, said Thailand expected to ship 54,548 tons of poultry this year, down 10% from last year, with the value anticipated to hold at $228 million with chicken shipments to the European Union declining, while processed chicken exports slumped 22.6 per cent to 4.88 billion baht in January.
Source: farminguk
