On the eve of the meeting between President Boluarte and Xi Jinping, the Peruvian government withdrew the legal case so that it would be open to other companies. This infrastructure will be inaugurated in November, which will allow direct access to the region for the largest container ships from Asia. There is also pressure for a new trans-Amazon highway that would connect this port with Brazil.
Lima (/Agencies) – The government of Peru and Cosco Shipping – the Chinese state construction company – have resolved a dispute over the business model of the port of Chancay, guaranteeing the Asian giant the status of exclusive operator when it opens in a few months the infrastructure. The agreement was finalized precisely when Peruvian President Dina Boluarte was arriving in the People’s Republic of China, where she will meet with Xi Jinping on June 28.
The project for a megaport in Chancay, located 80 kilometers north of Lima, is 16 years old. But the turning point came in 2019 when Cosco Shipping acquired 60% of the shares of the company created to build the infrastructure, in which it invested $1.3 billion. However, earlier this year, as work was nearing completion, government lawyers had filed a lawsuit to challenge the exclusivity granted to the Chinese, claiming that the structure should be available to other companies that transport containers. The measure was harshly criticized by the Chinese who had financed it and by Peruvian industrial groups themselves, who claim that practically all other ports in the country have exclusive operators. Now the Lima authorities have announced a step back that should unblock the situation.
The port of Chancay is one of the main investments in South America of the Belt and Road Initiative, what is called Xi Jinping’s “new silk road.” Indeed, it has been built to allow even the largest commercial ships to dock, which can reach up to 400 meters in length and transport more than 18 thousand containers in a single load.
Until now, on the Pacific coasts of the Americas there were only two ports suitable for these giants of the sea, both in North America: Long Beach, in the United States, and Manzanillo, in Mexico. Therefore, much of the trade between Asia and South America is currently carried out indirectly. Chancay – designed to transit up to 1 million containers per year – should reduce transport costs and journey times and is therefore considered the future “Shanghai of South America”.
The first part of the megaport is expected to open in November 2024, when Lima hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that promotes trade between countries that share the Pacific Ocean. It is expected to be fully operational in early 2025.
Chile, Ecuador and Colombia could also benefit from the structure, but Brazil is looking at Chancay with great interest. The business world is pushing for a highway to be built between the port and the Brazilian state of Acre to accelerate access to maritime trade with Asia, even at the price of new damage to the Amazon rainforest.
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