The skies have cleared over Brazil's main port of Santos, allowing ships to resume bulk sugar loading after wet weather interrupted the flow of the sweetener most of last week, shipping agents said.

Rains continue to plague Brazil's No. 2 sugar port of Paranagua further to the south, agents Unimar Agenciamentos Maritimos said.

Rains often interrupt loading of dry bulk commodities at ports in Brazil due to the lack of covered ship-loaders. But the heavy lineup of ships arriving to load sugar during the peak of harvest and the rains that lingered from Tuesday through Saturday over Santos combined to cause serious delays.

45 ships were waiting to load sugar in Santos, with five ships berthed for loading raws and another five ships berthed to load bagged crystals, according to Unimar.

The congestion in the Brazilian ports was one of the factors that contributed to the rise in international sugar futures prices last week, traders said.

Paranagua port was only stopped last week, but fresh rains have suspended loading of sugar and soybeans, the port authority said. Paranagua does not export as much sugar as Santos, which is on the coast of Brazil's main cane producing state of Sao Paulo.

Unimar said 15 ships were waiting to load sugar in Paranagua with three ships berthed for loading. (Reuters)