Rio De Janeiro, Oct 19 (IANS): A fire destroyed a major terminal of Brazilian sugar giant Copersucar, burning 180,000 tonnes of raw sugar, Xinhua cited a company statement as saying Saturday.
The fire swept through six of the company's warehouses in Santos port Friday. The blaze is now under control, the port authorities said.
"The causes of the accident are not known yet and are under investigation," the statement said.
Copersucar is the world's largest sugar and ethanol company, accounting for nearly a fifth of the world's sugar exports.
The loss in the fire is about 10 percent of Brazil's monthly sugar exports.
The fire is the biggest in the port's history, which shipped 12.8 million tonnes of sugar in the first eight months of this year.