The Chancay Conundrum: China's Megaport and the Battle for Latin America's Mineral Heartland
The Chancay Conundrum: China's Megaport and the Battle for Latin America's Mineral Heartland In the misty Andean foothills, where copper veins pulse beneath ancient earth, the Chancay Port rises as a modern monolith on Peru's Pacific shore. Inaugurated in November 2024 by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Peruvian leaders, this $3.5 billion deep-water gateway—majority-controlled by COSCO Shipping—has already transformed trade flows. By early 2026, it handled hundreds of thousands of TEUs, channeling record Peruvian exports—up 21% in 2025—to China, slashing transit times to 23 days and generating over $300 million in customs revenue. Yet this gleaming hub embodies deeper tensions: a Belt and Road triumph bypassing Panama's chokepoints, fueling China's mineral hunger while stirring U.S. alarms of "dual-use" threats and a revived "Donroe Doctrine." Amid soaring copper prices and indigenous protests at mines like Las Bambas, Chancay stands as bo...