Delays caused by the action, which started on Monday morning, were seen as minimal and did not affect sugar loaded in bulk form, which makes up the majority of Brazil's exports and the bulk of Santos' sugar shipments.
But the action came at a time of strong demand for Brazilian sugar. Ships have been facing delays of up to several weeks waiting at the ports to load.
"It's suspended for now, while we wait for the management's proposal," said Rodnei Oliveira da Silva, president at Santos' Longshoremen Union, which has around 9,000 stevedores and port workers as members.
Slowdowns often help leverage the port workers' position in annual contract negotiations with the private terminal operators.
Workers are demanding increases in wages, participation in profits and other benefits, da Silva said.
Vessel queues to ship sugar from Brazil hit record levels in the past few months as the country remained the only major producer with enough supplies to meet strong demand abroad.
The lines have shortened in recent weeks.
From July through September, sugar exports reached record volumes of around 3 million tonnes monthly. They would certainly have been higher if port capacity was greater.
Brazil is the world's largest sugar producer and exporter, accounting for about half the international trade in the sweetener.
No. 2 sugar port Paranagua was operating normally.
Coffee brokers have not reported any impact from the slowdown in shipments of that commodity. (Reuters)
