COSCO Shipping Ports inaugurated the Port of Chancay, with Presidents Xi Jinping and Dina Boluarte attending the ceremony marking China’s first major deepwater port infrastructure investment in South America. The $1.3 billion Phase 1 development (ultimately reaching $3.5 billion upon completion) features 1,500 metres of berth with capacity to handle 18,000 TEU vessels across four berths dedicated to container and multipurpose cargo. COSCO holds ownership alongside Volcan Compañía Minera’s stake, positioning the port as a transformative trade gateway between South America and Asia-Pacific markets. Chancay reduces shipping time from Peru to Asia from 35 days to 23 days by eliminating transshipment through North American or Caribbean hubs, fundamentally altering trade economics for Latin American exporters. The port represents more than Peruvian infrastructure, it establishes a direct maritime corridor that reshapes competitive dynamics for exporters across Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil who previously lacked efficient Asia-Pacific access.

South American exporters suddenly gained routing optionality they never possessed, but optionality without execution frameworks generates confusion rather than advantage. Chancay’s opening created immediate questions: which products justify route switching, which Asian markets offer realistic demand, which logistics partners understand both endpoints and how do pricing structures change when eliminating intermediary ports?

Latin American exporters accustomed to established North American trade lanes needed commercial pathways that translated infrastructure availability into actual customer relationships in unfamiliar Asian markets. Our work focused on designing these pathways. We identified target buyers, structured partner networks, developed customer acquisition frameworks and built realistic timelines that acknowledged relationship development requirements in Asian markets. Most market entry analysis stops at identifying opportunity; we design how organisations capture it. The distinction matters because new infrastructure creates possibility, but only disciplined commercial execution converts possibility into revenue.

Chancay demonstrates why route-to-market design requires understanding both logistics transformation and the relationship-building mechanics of entering established supply chains where existing suppliers defend their positions aggressively.