The commercial exchange between Peru and Chile would reach US$ 3.500 million at the end of this year, with which it would register a growth of around 16% compared to 2021, projected the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur).

"Trade between Peru and Chile is going very well, growing both in 2021 and between January and September 2022, since in this last period the trade in goods increased by 21%," said the director of Development and Processing. of Information of the Mincetur, Walter Puelles.

"If this trend continues, we could be saying that this year trade with Chile would reach US$ 3.500 billion, being the highest value in history, taking into account that the highest we have had was in 2011, when they reached US$ 3.235 million”, he added.

Peruvian products for Chile

Walter Puelles highlighted that among the Peruvian products that are most sold to Chile are some minerals and derivatives, fruits and palm oil.

“What we export to Chile the most are minerals, mainly molybdenum, which represents more or less a quarter of what we sell to the southern country, as well as sulfuric acid. We also export to Chile metal-mechanical products such as steel balls for the mill, and fruits”, he said.

"Another Peruvian product that has grown a lot this year in the Chilean market is palm oil, since up to September of this year it reached US$ 34 million, which is a record figure," he added.

The Mincetur official also highlighted that Peru's textile exports to Chile are increasing, both in clothing (cotton products), fabrics (raw material) and fishing nets.

“The textile sector exported more than US$100 million to Chile in 2021, and this year we are increasing textile exports by 27%, until September, but being conservative we could point out that by the end of 2022 we could exceed US$115 million," he said.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism, along with molybdenum (the first good that Peru exports to Chile), in 2021 the higher sales of plastic manufactures (126%), textile-apparel (121%) and fruit (119%) also stood out. %).

Agricultural exports in 2021 were record (US$359 million) thanks to the increased sale of avocado (170%). Likewise, exports of lemon (46%), mango (25%), palm oil (92%), biscuits (58%), sauces and condiments (44%) and olives (21%) increased.

Imports

Likewise, Walter Puelles argued that Peru buys key products from Chile, for the development of the agricultural and construction sectors.

"In the current crisis of fertilizers, one of the goods that they sell us, and that helps us for agricultural needs, is potassium nitrate, since from January to September of this year we have imported a value of 48 million dollars of said product, a figure that has not been seen before," he said.

"Chile also sells us fruit and steel for construction, considering that the trade of this last product to Peru has increased a lot, and probably this year will reach a record, since from January to September 2022 it registers US$ 169 million, a figure that is 63 % higher than the same period of 2021 ”, he added.

According to Mincetur, in 2021 there was an increase in imports from Chile to Peru in scrap metal (140%), poultry meat (134%), auto parts (134%), ammonium nitrate (119%), long steel (106%), sawn wood (61%), shredding machine parts (47%), kraft paper (37%) and plastics (29%).

It should be noted that the import of agricultural products from Chile has shown a sustained reduction for several years. However, Chile continues to be the first country of origin of the fruit that Peru buys from the rest of the world.

Balance of trade

The Mincetur highlights that Chile is Peru's second trading partner in Latin America, after Brazil, considering that in 2021 the trade of goods between Peru and Chile amounted to US$ 3.012 million, exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

“We have a positive trade balance with Chile, and that is reflected in sectors such as agriculture. An important fact is that in the trade balance of agricultural products, Peru has a positive balance compared to Chile, highlighting the fruit trade, something that was previously unthinkable," said Walter Puelles.

Opportunities

The Mincetur indicates that Peru has a high participation in Chilean purchases of avocado (93%) and palm oil (64%), but that it could increase the participation in cocoa (3%) and malt beer (2%).

While in the textile-apparel sector, Peru's participation reaches 5% in cotton t-shirts and 14% in non-woven fabric, being able to increase its participation in both businesses.

In addition, there are opportunities in agricultural products such as bananas, and in other areas in liquefied natural gas, goods that Peru exports to the world, but not to Chile.

There are also products such as beef and pork, wheat and turnip oil, which are goods that Chile buys and that Peru does not yet produce for export.