Summary: The Chancay Port is a port terminal that is planned to be built in the coastal city of Chancay in Peru. The aim is to reduce congestion in the port of the nearby capital Lima while also acting as a gateway for commercial and infrastructure projects linking Peru and Asia.

The idea for the port dates to 2008 and at first involved Volcan Compañía Minera, a Peruvian mining company owned by Swiss conglomerate Glencore. Initial work began in 2016, and then in 2019, COSCO Shipping Ports (a Chinese company) became involved and quickly became majority owner of the JV with Volcan. Shipments from the port began in late 2024 after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Peru for its inauguration.

The venture promises over 8,000 jobs and annual revenue of 4.5 billion USD. However, the project is also controversial. Locals and activists are concerned about the project's environmental and fisheries impacts, and there have been allegations of falsification and corruption in the environmental assessment process. In addition to the potential for unintended consequences, scientists and activists are concerned that the project could fuel the exploitation of the Amazon rainforest, as one of the port's objectives is to facilitate the transport of goods from Brazil across the Pacific — goods which are tied to the deforestation of the Amazon.

Location: Chancay, Huaral Province, Peru

Companies: COSCO SHIPPING Ports Chancay Peru (CSP Chancay), a joint venture between COSCO Shipping Ports (60% share) and Volcan Compañía Minera S.A.A. (40% share).

The companies involved in construction since 2021 are Consorcio CHECSAC-CCCC4TH, a consortium of China Communications Construction Company and China Harbour Engineering Company.

Investors and Financiers: In March 2023, the Bank of China led a consortium comprising the Bank of Communications Co., China Minsheng Banking Corp., the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone Branch and Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank to provide a $975 million loan to CSP Chancay.

Project impacts and concerns:

• Corruption and governance:

The environmental assessment process, as required by Peruvian law, has been plagued by controversy. In 2025, six SENACE employees, the government agency responsible for reviewing the assessment, were charged with approving parts of the project despite CSP Chancay not having addressed them yet. Disputes also exist between CSP Chancay and OSITRAN, the Peruvian regulatory body overseeing transport and infrastructure. Just days before the port opened, CSP Chancay filed a court action seeking to limit OSITRAN's oversight authority over the project.

In 2024, a local activist who opposed the project was arrested in public after CSP Chancay brought a defamation case against her, allegedly without a summons being delivered to her first. Furthermore, there are allegations that CSP Chancay hired a subcontractor to harass opponents of the project.

• Environmental impacts

A biologist prepared a report which analysed the environmental assessment prepared for CSP Chancay and found 50 errors. For example, the time taken for the seabed to recover could be as much as 5 years longer than admitted in the assessment.

The wetland area around the port had been declared a conservation area by the government. However, many species seem to have begun to avoid the area, often due to explosions from the construction blasts associated with the projects. Even after blasting ended, locals allege that there continue to be negative impacts to the wetlands.

A breakwater associated with the project has allegedly disrupted the normal sediment flow in the area, and CSP Chancay has failed to transfer sand to account for the impact, leading to breaks in local pipes, which have polluted beaches in the area.

• Impacts on local life and economy

Local fishers claim that fish populations near the coast of Chancay have plummeted since the beginning of construction and the attendant increase in ship traffic. While payments to fishers by CSP Chancay have satisfied some, others state that the one time payments did not offset the permanent damage to their livelihoods.

Also, from the beginning of work on the project in 2016, the city of Chancay was exposed to construction blasts several times a day for the next two years. This resulted in cracks and even collapses of homes and foundations. At the same time, there is a rapid increase in housing prices, making Chancay much less affordable for residents.

There have also been reports of mistreatment and unsafe working conditions. In 2024, two workers died on duty.

• Impact on the Amazon

A stated project goal has been to make Chinese/Asian markets better connected with Brazil, with the idea that the port will make it more attractive to find land connections over the Andes from the Brazilian Amazon. Many experts, however, warn that this process will likely speed up the destruction of the Amazon, given that it would require the construction of a transportation network running through previously unexploited forest. In fact, a $50 billion commitment from China has been discussed to finance a railway from the Atlantic coast of Brazil to the Pacific coast of Peru.

Even if this megaproject is never built, many analysts think smaller links to the Brazilian Amazon will likely be incentivised, accelerating the exploitation of the Amazon to extract valuable resources to be shipped through Chancay.

In September 2024, we invited Cosco Shipping to comment on the allegations of negative social impacts of the project, the company did not respond.