A fire that destroyed a conveyor belt and electric systems at the Tiplam terminal in the port of Santos, Brazil’s largest, caused a suspension of sugar loading on piers 2 and 3, according to a note from the company that was seen by Reuters.

The fire broke out on Thursday night and was controlled on Friday morning. There were no victims, but the destruction of the conveyor belt stopped loadings in the berths, said the note to clients of VLI, the company managing the terminal.

Damage to the electrical infrastructure at the terminal also caused the company to suspend unloading of trains arriving at the port by rail with sugar and other products.

VLI press representatives said later on Friday that teams were doing an evaluation at the site before starting repairs, and that the aim was to resume operations as quickly as possible.

According to line-up data from shipping agency Williams, Tiplam was expected to load 13 vessels with 800,000 metric tons of sugar in the coming two weeks. Most of the vessels would sail to China, with trader Wilmar the most active shipper in that terminal.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira in New York; additional reporting by Roberto Samora in Sao Paulo; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Leslie Adler)