New Delhi: Sugar exports by Thailand, the world’s second-largest supplier, may fall 2.6% in the year starting November due to an expected dip in output, a senior industry executive said on Tuesday.

Exports may decline to 7.5 million tonne (mt) in 2012-13, compared with 7.7 mt in the current year, Kannika Vongkusolkit, research and marketing strategist at Mitr Phol Sugar Corp, told reporters on the sidelines of the Kingsman Indian Sugar Conference here. The country will likely produce 9.5 to 10 mt of sugar in 2012-13, down from 10.2 mt in the current year, due to poor rainfall, Vongkusolkit said.

Global sugar output is expected to rise marginally to 180 mt in the year starting October from the previous forecast of 179.9 mt and compared with 177.6 mt in the current year, according to global research firm Kingsman. The global sugar surplus for the coming season will likely decline by 5.9% from the initial projection as output falls in second-largest producer India could drop, said the research firm, as consumption is rising.