Peru's transport infra investments hit almost US$600mn in H1

Peruvian investments in transportation infrastructure hit a record in the first half of 2024, exceeding the figure for all 2022 of US$543mn.

Investments in projects supervised by transportation regulator Ositran totaled US$598mn in H1, well above the previous first half record in 2018 of US$485mn, with line No. 2 of the Lima metro leading the way.

According to the regulator’s report, what was invested in the first half is approaching all that executed in 2023 (US$723mn) and will be much higher than the initial projection of US$800mn for this year, according to local specialists.

Category	First half of 2023 (US$ million)	First half of 2024 (US$ million)
Airports	27.7	235
Roads and highways	36.4	24.6
Railway projects	180	230
Ports	136	108
Total investment	380	598

Source: Ositran

In the case of line 2, so far this year US$230mn has been spent on the US$5.35bn project, which registers 57% progress in terms of investment executed at US$3.04bn. According to specialists, the works progressed without problems in the first half since the tunnel boring machine that has been drilling the underground line arrived at the area of the Central station in June.

However, the works at the station have sparked controversy because the metropolitan municipality of Lima (MML) opposes its construction. Although work officially began on July 1, the municipal authority has indicated that it will sue the consortium for building without its permission – despite not requiring authorization – which will hinder progress in the following months.

AIRPORTS

The airport sector has also seen significant progress this year. Investments in the area were US$235mn in H1, compared with US$55mn in all 2023 and US$33mn in 2022, and also more than previous years.

Investment to upgrade Jorge Chávez international airport in Lima totaled US$186mn in H1 and US$42mn in June alone, according to Ositran. According to the construction company, Lima Airport Partners, the US$2bn project is more than 85% complete and will be delivered on December 18.

However, due to conflicts over the mismanagement of airport infrastructure, local and international business groups have requested a postponement of the opening until January 2025.

Regarding regional airports, the first group of 12 – in the hands of  Aeropuertos del Perú (AdP) – saw investments of US$47.2mn in H1. The second group – in the charge of Aeropuertos Andinos de Perú – received US$1.6mn.

PORTS AND ROADS

The port sector saw another important milestone in the first half of the year. In June, work on the expansion of the south pier (Bicentenario) at Lima’s Callao port was completed, which ended up demanding US$400mn and was opened on June 20.

Of the US$108mn invested in ports in the six months, US$100mn went to the Bicentenario pier, US$3.36mn to the expansion of the northern terminal, also in Callao, US$2.39mn to the Paita terminal in Piura region, and US$1.31mn to the San Martin port terminal in Ica region.

Finally, roads and highways received US$24.6mn in the half. The Pativilca-Salaverry section of road network No. 4 – which involves a 356km stretch on the coast of Áncash and La Libertad regions – saw investments of US$17.3mn.

The Inambari-Azángaro section of the IRRSA Sur highway followed with US$2.9mn and the Paita-Yurimaguas section of the IRRSA Norte highway came next with US$1.25mn.