Bangkok, May 12 - Thailand, Asia's biggest sugar exporter, produced 7.14 million tonnes of the sweetener in the 2008/09 season which ended in late April, down 8.7 percent from the previous crop, the Cane and Sugar Board said on Tuesday.
In the 2007/08 crop, Thailand produced 7.82 million tonnes, it said.
"Sugar production did not fall significantly as we expected earlier. It is because of better yields that helped offset falls in cane production," a senior official at the Cane and Sugar Board told Reuters.
In the 2008/09 crop, Thailand produced 66.4 million tonnes of cane, down 9.4 percent from 73.3 million tonnes in the 2007/08 crop, he said. Crushing usually starts in late November and runs through to April.
Sugar production at the end of the crushing season in tonnes, compared with the same period last season:
GRADE 2007/08 2008/09
Raw sugar 4,567,382 4,319,790
White sugar 3,248,690 2,816,426
Total 7,816,072 7,136,216