Peru’s port sector is set to receive investments totaling US$968mn by 2012, according to Lima’s chamber of commerce (CCL).

Dubai-based port operator DP World will spend US$734mn on Callao port’s Muelle Sur dock and Terminales Portuarios Euroandinos (TPE) will invest US$228mn in Piura region’s Paita port, according to the CCL, while concessionaire Terminales Internacionales del Sur (Tisur) will invest US$6mn in Arequipa’s Matarani port.

Given the fact that Peru’s ports handle 90% of the country’s exports, it is imperative that the government speed up initiatives to modernize the port sector, said CCL head Peter Anders, citing Callao’s Muelle Norte dock as an example.

Container traffic at Callao grew by 190% between 2000 and 2008, increasing from 413,000 TEUs to 1.2mn TEUs, according to CCL’s foreign trade center CCEX.

Despite a drop in traffic caused by the global economic crisis in 2009, when the port moved 1.08mn TEUs, Callao is likely to experience 14% growth from 2008-20, particularly with the signing of free trade agreements with the US, Canada and China, Anders was quoted as saying by state news agency Andina.

Anders urged the government to avoid congestion at Callao by speeding up the process to concession the port’s Muelle Norte dock.

Two private initiatives to modernize the dock are currently being evaluated, with DP World, Dutch firm APM Terminals, the Philippines’ International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI) and Switzerland’s Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) all interested in bidding for the concession.

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