A state-of-the-art roof shielding vessels from rain at Rumo's sugar terminal at Santos port in Brazil is expected to operate this year, a senior executive said.

Rumo is the logistics arm of the world's top sugar and ethanol producer Cosan.

Ivan Melo Filho, commercial director of Raizen, a joint venture between Brazil's Cosan and Royal Dutch Shell, said, "(The roof) should be up and running by November."

Speaking in a question-and-answer session at the Feb. 4-7 Kingsman Dubai sugar conference, he added that the roof should increase the productivity of the terminal by around 40 percent.

Bulk loading of sugar and other products has to be halted during the rain as even small amounts of moisture can cause the cargo to spoil.

Santos typically experiences rain more than 100 days a year, shipping officials said, quoting metereological studies. (Reuters)