15:33 Nov 4 – Production down, auto industry hit

The Manufacturing Production Index for September was down by 0.5 per cent from the same month last year to 201.47 points due to the country’s worst floods in half a century, Office of Industrial Economics deputy director general Apiwat Ussamaporn said Friday., The MPI for Sept 2010 stood at 200.43 points., Mr Apiwat said the heavy flooding would continue to affect the automobile industry at least until the end of the year, because several industrial estates have been inundated by the northern runoff., Other important producers that have been hit include hard disk drives, electronic tubes, textiles and plastic resins, he said.