BANGKOK : Thailand’s factory output unexpectedly dropped in May due mainly to supply shortages for manufacturing cars and some electronics products due to lockdowns in China’s major port cities, the industry ministry said on Wednesday.
Output is likely to be steady in June and recover next month as China’s restrictions ease, while increased domestic activity and tourism will also provide support, ministry official Siripen Kiatfuengfoo told a news conference.
In May, the manufacturing production index (MPI) contracted 2.11 per cent from a year earlier, weighed down by lower production of cars, hard disk drives, and plastic pellets, the industry ministry said.
That compared with a forecast 1.50 per cent rise in output in a Reuters poll and a yearly drop of 0.03 per cent in April, revised from a 0.56 per cent rise.
In May, car production fell 9.11 per cent from a year earlier, while…
