All over the world, people were concerned about the recession and paid more attention to climate change as well as natural disasters. These issues posed further risks to food security. Furthermore, economic factors remained a major barrier to food access in many countries. In particular, the prices of agricultural products and hydrocarbons in the global market continued to rise, resulting in soaring food and energy prices in the country. Food prices skyrocketed during the COVID-19 outbreak because of supply disruptions and the state of war in Ukraine. Recently, the market has projected that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will raise interest rates by 50 basis points (bps) or 0.5% at its December meeting after raising interest rates by 0.75% four consecutive times.

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) still monitored the financial situation and risks, including inflation, an economic slowdown, and wars. In addition, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) emphasized its gradual monetary policy. The result of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting on November 30, 2022, was that the committee unanimously resolved to raise the policy interest rate by 0.25% per year, from 1.00% per year to 1.25% per year, effective immediately. The Bank of Thailand (BOT) projected Thailand's economy to grow by 3.2%, 3.7%, and 3.9% in 2022, 2023, and 2024, respectively.

The Thailand Industrial Sentiment Index (TISI) in November 2022 rose to 93.5 from 93.1 in the previous month due to the positive impact of the expansion of the tourism sector as the increase of foreign tourists. Furthermore, the construction sector and the issue of semiconductor shortages improved. Besides, freight rates decreased. However, the entrepreneurs still faced high costs of production as well as high loan interest rates and a slowdown in foreign demand. Overall, Thailand's consumer confidence index was reported at 49.9 in November 2022, up from 47.7 in the previous month.

In terms of Thailand’s international trade in October 2022, Thailand’s export income value was 801,273.42 million baht, up 6.66% YoY but down 9.80% compared with the previous month. Meanwhile, Thailand’s import value was 832,874.81 million baht, up 9.07% YoY but down 10.42% compared with last month. Thailand's trade balance in October 2022 recorded a deficit of 31,601.39 million baht. (Ministry of Commerce, 2022).

According to S&P Global, the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) decreased to 47.7 in November 2022 from 50.4 the previous month due to the rising cost of living and interest rates. Furthermore, concern about a global recession has grown. Moreover, there was a slowdown in raw material purchases and reduced production. Meanwhile, Thailand’s PMI stood at 51.1 in November 2022, down from 51.6 the previous month. In October 2022, the manufacturing sector slowly recovered as demand fell; meanwhile, the cost of raw materials, energy prices, and transportation costs increased. The economic slowdown reflected the decline in confidence in the manufacturing sector caused by global inflationary conditions.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) announced that crude oil inventories decreased by 7.9 million barrels for the week ending November 25, 2022. Overall, crude oil prices declined because the market was concerned about a recession and the demand from China declined after the COVID-19 cases continuously increased. On November 30, 2022, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude oil prices stood at 80.55 and 85.43 USD/barrel, respectively.

The average rubber prices announced by the Central Rubber Market in Songkhla in November 2022 were down from the previous month, and the rubber prices at the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) is still volatile. Northern and northeastern Thailand were entering winter; as a result, rubber output gradually reached the market. On the contrary, heavy rains in many areas of southern Thailand might reduce rubber output. Furthermore, it was necessary to monitor and find a solution to prevent and cure Pestalotiopsis leaf fall disease in rubber. Climate change is currently posing significant challenges to global society. All the government and private sectors paid attention to environmental preservation by trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and link the issue to business processes. In order to survive in the modern world, Thailand needed to speed up its sustainability efforts because one out of three of the population was in the agricultural sector. On November 28-29, 2022, the FSC Asia Pacific held a seminar titled "Forest Stewardship Council Asia Pacific Business Forum 2022: Connecting Markets with Forests," which was a cooperation to promote FSC certification for rubber farmers and the international rubber wood market. However, relevant parties in the rubber industry still needed to monitor the economic situation closely because the company's tire production rate in China remained stable. Furthermore, the number of COVID-19-infected people in China increased, and a new round of lockdown was announced. In addition, orders from foreign buyers were slowing down, and tire sales remained low. Thailand exported 420,857 tons of natural rubber (including compound rubber), generating an export income of 22.3 billion baht. In the tyre sector, Thailand exported XXX million units of all tyres for a total value of 17.6 billion baht.

In October 2022, Thailand’s car production was 170,717 units, down 4.75% compared with the previous month but up 10.83% YoY, including production for export of 97,832 units (57.31% of all production) and domestic sales of 72,885 units (42.69% of all production). Meanwhile, Thailand's domestic car sales in October 2022 were 64,618 units, down 12.86% compared with the previous month but up 0.24% YoY.