The fire at Santos in Brazil saw 180,000 tonnes of sugar destroyed in the flames. This led to force majeure notices being issued by Copersucar, the largest Brazilian sugar trader. In turn, these led to many other force majeure letters being sent to other traders and third parties as the issue cascaded along the supply chain. A contrary argument is now being made, according to the Financial Times, that force majeure only applies 'if the contract specified the sugar to be loaded at the Copersucar terminal that was damaged'. 

Traders are speaking of the case as a test case, and are 'keenly waiting' to see the results of the lawyers' deliberations. London lawyers are playing a leading role. One of them said: 'At the moment notices are going up and down the chain.'