INDUSTRIAL INDESXES SHOW IMPROVEMENT SINCE JANUARY

       Thailand's industrial indexes have improved significantly since the start of the year, with the July manufacturing index contracting only 9 per cent year on year compared to 25.6 per cent in January, according to the Industrial Economics Office.
       The index in February contracted 23.1 per cent year on year, March by 23.1 per cent, April by 12.8 per cent, May by 12.4 per cent and June by 6.8 per cent.
       Arthit Wuthikaro, director-general of the office, yesterday said the month-on-month figures had also shown improvement since February, when the index rose 0.5 per cent from January.
       In March, the index expanded 14.2 per cent month on month. Due to political violence, the April figure contracted 8.7 per cent, before expanding 9.2 per cent and 6.6 per cent in May and June respectively.
       The July index, however, dropped 1.3 per cent from June.
       Arthit said that despite the July reversal, the index should return to positive territory soon due to new orders in several industries and many plants having to increase capacity as a result.
       July capacity utilisation stayed at 57 per cent, well above the trough of 50 per cent in February.
       Hard disk drives are one sector for which the manufacturing index has increased for three consecutive months, as manufacturers have been able to offer new products to customers. They are, however, concerned about a labour shortage.
       In the first seven months of the year, the sector's output and distribution dropped 6.3 per cent and 6.5 per cent respectively from the same period last year. The sector is expected to show positive growth in the fourth quarter.
       The frozen-food sector in July also enjoyed growth in manufacturing and sales.