Copersucar will accelerate shipment of sugar and cut costs

LONDON-Copersucar, the largest marketer of sugar and ethanol in the world, will speed up shipments of sugar and reduce costs at the port of Santos, after doubling its export capacity to 10 million tons per year, said the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company on Friday.
Copersucar concluded investment last month, allowing the company to receive additional loads through rail and road transport in a larger area in Santos, Brazil's largest port of sugar, said Luis Roberto Pogetti, in an interview.
"As we ship the sugar faster, reduce costs and become more competitive Brazilian production", said Pogetti in an interview backstage at a sugar and ethanol Conference in London.
Copersucar also added another ship loader equipment, raising his total to three, and may receive larger ships as the sugarcane harvest continues in the Center-South of Brazil, the region's largest producer and exporter of sugar in the world, he said.
The company, which represents 47 plants in Brazil, recorded a revenue of 4.1 billion reais with the marketing of sugar and ethanol in 2012 and is responsible for 17 percent of global maritime trade.
The company hopes to expand its sales volume of sugar to 9 million tonnes this season, up from 7.2 million last season.
The Brazil is struggling to expand its infrastructure, especially in the transport sector, to keep up with the rapid growth of their exports of grain, sugar and coffee.
A limited expansion of roads and railway capacity in recent decades has created a bottleneck at the ports, exporters say.
Pogetti said that dos Santos is not currently dealing with serious obstructions, unlike previous years, when long lines of ships waiting to load sugar formed with the harvest.
He said that the pier Copersucar bound to their warehouses in Santos would be capable of carrying 60 tons of bulk sugar per day.
Pogetti also said that the demand for Brazilian raw sugar by China, a major importer, had exceeded expectations this year.
"Maybe they (the Chinese importers) feel that current prices are good for replenishing stocks," he said.