Sao Paulo, Oct 1 - Brazil is reinforcing quality testing in sugar cargoes at the country's main port of Santos to try to reduce fraud at a time when the sweetener prices are near 30-year highs, trade sources said on Thursday.
The new screening measures were adopted after cargoes of sugar tainted with sand showed up in Brazilian shipments arriving at ports abroad about two months ago. The sand can not be seen by the naked eye when mixed in with the sugar.
The problem became apparent when overseas customers began processing the Brazilian raw sugar.
After investigating the problem, terminal operators said sugar had been stolen on its way from mills to the port and replaced by sand, but they added that the practice has since stopped.
"A client complained and we found sand in the cargo. There was fraud in the transportation system which affected all the companies (in Santos)," said a source at a Brazilian sugar group.
"As soon as clients complained, companies adopted more rigid criteria to receive cargoes at the port, to inspect them, and the problem was solved," the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
A police source in Santos said they are currently conducting an investigation of a possible case of sand in one cargo of sugar. As one sample of the cargo was still being tested, the source could not confirm the contamination.