(Bloomberg) -- Bottlenecks plaguing ports and delaying shipments from agricultural powerhouse Brazil will last until at least 2025, keeping sugar prices high, according to the trading unit of China’s largest food company.

Logjams will persists until Cofco International Ltd. opens its new terminal in Santos, Brazil’s biggest port, said Marcelo de Andrade, managing director of soft commodities at the trading house. That will support sugar prices that already are heading for a fifth year of gains in what would be the longest winning streak since 1989.

The world is relying on sugar from top producer Brazil to meet global demand after poor harvests in India and Thailand. But bumper soybean, corn and sugar crops are stretching Brazil’s logistics at a time when rain is disrupting port operations, with ships awaiting as many as 33 days to load in Santos.

“The world needs sugar. Brazil has sugar but can’t ship it, so prices have to rise,” de Andrade said during an interview at an industry event in Sao Paulo this week. “How long will the party last? Until Cofco’s terminal starts.”

Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of corn, soybeans and sugar, fueling competition among the commodities for port capacity. Terminals tend to prioritize crops other than sugar because they command higher prices.

To make matters worse, most of the terminals are open-air and can’t load when it’s raining because it can ruin the sweetener. Delays to load sugar and grains exceed 70 days in Paranagua, Brazil’s second-largest port, according shipping agency Williams Brazil. 

Cofco announce last year that its new Santos terminal will have capacity to load 14 million metric tons of sugar and grains a year. When ready in 2025 or 2026, it will help help ease logjams, de Andrade said at the event run by consultants Datagro.

“The whole system has seized up,” he said. “Today there’s no more storage for sugar, railcars, nothing. It’s been raining nonstop in Santos.”

Brazil’s key Center-South growing region may produce a record 40 million to 41 million tons of sugar this year, and it will have to store some of that product for sale next year, de Andrade said. Output could rise to as much as 43 million tons next year, he said. 

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.