The infrastructure and services inaugurated in November 2024 have created new opportunities for avocado exports to Asia. This is particularly true for Peru, which has a strong local presence, but also for Chilean avocados, which could see increased export volumes to that continent.

On November 14, 2024, one of the most important port centers for trade between South America and Asia was inaugurated: Cosco Shipping Ports Chancay Perú SA, formed by Volcán Compañía Minera Cosco Shipping Ports. Its facilities were built on a 1,000-hectare site, requiring an investment of US$3.5 billion, with over 60% ownership by the Chinese state-owned company Cosco Shipping Ports; the remaining percentage is held by the Peruvian mining company Volcán, a subsidiary of Glencore.

These facilities aim to become a key logistics hub in the South Pacific, facilitating and streamlining trade routes between Latin America and Asia, especially with China.

In fact, the company's prospects are that, during the first stage of its operation, it will reach around one million containers per year.

Days before the inauguration, Peru's Minister of Transport and Communications, Raúl Pérez Reyes, made a memorable statement when speaking about the expectations for this mega-investment: “We want to become the Singapore of Latin America, so that port cargo passes through here on its way to Asia. When someone from Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Paraguay, or Argentina wants to go there, they should think of Peru as their point of departure.”

Located in the district of Chancay, province of Huaral, about 30 kilometers north of Lima, it is emerging as a great opportunity for the export of products from communities on the coast, in the highlands and in the jungle of Peru, with the aim of boosting their local economies.

Travel times are reduced by almost half.

Peruvian expert and Avobook columnist Alfredo Lira explains that the first major change is the considerable improvement in fruit transit times to markets that are very demanding regarding the characteristics that the avocado must have upon arrival.

“The port of Chancay makes this change significant, because the transit time from Peru to China will change. It will go from between 44 and 45 days to just over twenty. What leaves this port will arrive in 26, 27, or 28 days,” Lira explains.

“This will help the fruit not only reach China, but also have better distribution options in the Asian market in general. It will improve opportunities to reach Japan, Thailand, and all the other markets already open to Peruvian fruit. That will be the first impact, which will have the further consequence of freeing up some of the fruit that was going to Europe to be destined for Asia,” Alfredo Lira explained to Avobook.

Travel time is not a factor in itself. The main impact will be on the arrival condition, as Chinese importers demand green fruit, a condition very difficult to manage on journeys of almost 50 days. This is not the case, however, with journeys half that time.

Alfredo Lira illustrates this by saying that “the Asian market will always be able to receive fruit with the correct oil percentage. In China, they order green fruit, and the 45-day journey makes it difficult for it to arrive at the perfect point of ripeness. This will be corrected with this, with avocados that will now have a transit time of 25 days.”

An additional opportunity also opens up: to take advantage of the days to ensure that some of the fruit continues its journey, leaving from China to the Middle East.

“From there, we can reach the countries in the Arabian region, where the demand for avocados is also growing. In fact, we have an alliance with a group of distributors, through which we are shipping fruit from Mexico by plane to that entire region, at amazing prices,” he explains.

So, just as it is done now from Europe, fruit could arrive in Asia and, from there, to Arab countries by plane.

Given these qualities, in Alfredo Lira's view, the port of Chancay "can be a game-changer. It's going to be very important for Peruvian industry."

Opportunity for Chilean avocado growers

Chilean Sebastián de la Cuadra, CEO of Avobook, complements what his Peruvian colleague pointed out, noting that the presence of the port of Chancay could also be seen as an opportunity for the export of avocados from Chile or other South American countries.

“The new port completely changes the reality for Peruvian exports. It’s very interesting because being two or three weeks away from China will allow us to be much closer to the market. This will encourage fruit to arrive in better condition and faster, not only for Peruvian products but also for products from neighboring countries,” says de la Cuadra.

It could even become an option for Chile, calculating whether it is profitable to stop at that port, to send fruit from there to its Asian customers.

But Sebastián de la Cuadra has a broader warning: “It benefits everyone if Peru does well on that route. Because the Peruvian window complements the Chilean one. They don't compete. So, if that route is available, the shipping company can improve its schedules, it could make a stop in Chile, which would help Chilean fruit get from Chancay in Peru to Shanghai in China. It would also be attractive for Chilean companies.”