BANGKOK (Reuters): Thailand's customs-cleared exports rose 8.2% in November from a year earlier, the commerce ministry said on Wednesday, roughly in line with analysts' expectations.
The reading compared with a forecast 8.4% increase in a Reuters poll, slowing from October's 14.6% rise.
Exports, a key driver of Southeast Asia's second-largest economy, increased 5.1% in the first 11 months from the same period last year, and the ministry forecast a 5.2% rise for the full year.
The ministry is maintaining its export growth target of 2% to 3% for 2025, Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, head of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office, told a news conference.
"We are not worried about exports next year," he said, adding the ministry was preparing for U.S. trade policies.
Commerce Minister Pichai Naripthaphan said this month the government was aiming to beat the 2025 export goal.
In November, rice export volumes dropped 22% from a year earlier but were up 15.5% for the January-November period at about 9.2 million metric tons.
Thailand, the world's biggest rice exporter after India, is aiming for rice shipments of 10 million tons this year, Poonpong said.
Imports rose 0.9% in November from a year earlier, below a forecast rise of 2.3%, resulting in a trade deficit of $224 million for the month.
(Reporting by Orathai Sriring and Kitiphong Thaichareon; Editing by Edmund Klamann and William Mallard) - Reuters
