Shipping guide · Americas

Shipping from China and Hong Kong to Peru

Peru is the South American country whose freight geography has changed most in recent years. The deepwater port at Chancay opened with direct services to Asia, cutting a routing that used to depend on transhipment down to a single ocean leg.

Talk to us about Peru

Customs authority: SUNAT, the national customs and tax administration
Trade agreement: China Peru FTA, with duty relief for qualifying goods
Import VAT: IGV, 18 percent including the municipal promotion tax
New gateway: Chancay deepwater port, with direct Asian services
Clearance option: Advance clearance before arrival is available and rewarded
Main entry points: Callao and Chancay by sea, Lima by air

Before Chancay, cargo from Asia to Peru almost always transhipped, usually in Mexico, Panama or another regional hub, adding a week or more. A direct service removes that leg entirely, and it also positions Peru as a gateway for cargo continuing to Bolivia, Ecuador and beyond.

Callao remains the established port, with the deepest ecosystem of brokers, warehousing and LCL deconsolidation, and it serves Lima directly. Chancay is close enough to Lima to compete for the same cargo, so the choice between them is now a genuine one that depends on the service and the destination.

Peru also has a free trade agreement with China, so correctly documented Chinese origin goods can qualify for reduced or zero duty. As in Chile, the value of that depends entirely on the certificate of origin being issued properly at origin.

Where cargo lands

Main freight and distribution centres

Lima and Callao

The dominant market and the main port and airport, with almost all national distribution running through it.

Chancay

North of Lima, the new deepwater port and the logistics zone developing around it.

Arequipa

The southern commercial centre, serving the mining region and the south of the country.

Trujillo and Chiclayo

Northern coastal cities with agriculture and manufacturing, served by their own regional ports.

Sea freight

Ports of entry and what they mean for your cargo

Callao

The established main port, serving Lima directly, with the widest range of services, brokers and LCL deconsolidation options.

Chancay

The deepwater port with direct Asian services, able to take the largest vessels and positioned as a regional gateway for the Pacific coast of South America.

Paita

Northern port serving the agricultural regions and the north of the country.

Matarani and Ilo

Southern ports serving the mining region and providing access towards Bolivia.

The direct Asian service at Chancay is the single biggest change in Peruvian import logistics in decades. Where it fits the cargo, it removes a transhipment and the week that goes with it.

Callao still has the deeper commercial ecosystem, particularly for LCL, so a direct call is not automatically the better answer for a small shipment.

Peru is also positioned as an onward gateway for the Pacific coast and towards Bolivia. If the cargo continues beyond Peru, that leg should be planned as part of the same movement.

Air freight

Airports and when air is the right answer

Lima Jorge Chavez (LIM)

The main air cargo gateway with full customs facilities, recently expanded.

Arequipa (AQP) and Cusco (CUZ)

Regional airports, relevant for urgent cargo destined to the south and the mining region.

Air freight from Asia into Peru routes through a hub in North America or Europe, so the transit is longer than for a direct market.

Mining spares dominate the urgent air freight profile, where the cost of downtime dwarfs the freight cost and the routing is chosen purely on speed.

Indicative transit times

How long the movement usually takes

Sea FCL, South China to Chancay on a direct serviceAround 23 to 30 days port to portThe direct routing avoids the transhipment that used to be unavoidable.
Sea FCL, South China to Callao with transhipmentAround 30 to 42 days port to portThe traditional routing, dependent on the transhipment hub and connection.
Sea LCL, South China to PeruAround 40 to 52 days door to doorConsolidation and deconsolidation add time at both ends.
Air freight, Hong Kong or South China to LimaAround 6 to 10 days door to doorVia a hub, including handling and clearance.

These ranges are indicative and exist to help you plan. Real transit time depends on the service, the season, the routing and the clearance itself, and we confirm it per shipment rather than publish it as a promise.

Customs

How clearance into Peru actually works

The competent authority is SUNAT, Superintendencia Nacional de Aduanas y de Administracion Tributaria.

The China Peru free trade agreement provides reduced or zero duty for qualifying goods of Chinese origin, subject to a valid certificate of origin under the agreement. Peru also applies zero duty to a large proportion of tariff lines regardless, so the practical duty burden is often low.

IGV, the Peruvian VAT, is 18 percent including the municipal promotion component, and registered businesses recover it through their regular filings.

Peru encourages advance clearance, where the declaration is filed and processed before the vessel arrives. Where it is used properly, cargo can be released very quickly after discharge, which is a real advantage over reactive clearance.

SUNAT assigns declarations to inspection channels, so some shipments clear automatically while others face document review or physical inspection. Complete documentation improves the odds.

A foreign company without a Peruvian entity needs a local importer or an importer of record arrangement, since the declarant must be established in Peru.

Documentation

What you need to have ready

Commercial invoice

Value, terms and a clear description consistent with the transport document.

Packing list

Piece counts, weights and dimensions per package.

Bill of Lading or Air Waybill

The transport contract and the release instrument.

Certificate of origin under the China Peru FTA

Required to claim the preferential duty treatment.

Peruvian tax identification (RUC)

For the importer of record.

Advance customs declaration

Filed before arrival where advance clearance is being used.

Sanitary or technical permits

DIGESA, DIGEMID or SENASA approvals depending on the product.

Insurance certificate

Where the terms of sale place that obligation on the shipper.

Controlled and restricted goods

What gets stopped, and why

Food, health products, cosmetics and medicines fall under DIGESA or DIGEMID with their own registrations, entirely separate from customs clearance.
Plants, wood and animal origin goods fall under SENASA with phytosanitary requirements.
Used goods, particularly clothing and vehicles, face significant restrictions.
Undervaluation is monitored, and SUNAT applies valuation controls to goods where declared values look inconsistent with the market.
Mining and industrial chemicals are subject to control regimes given their potential for diversion.
Wood packaging must comply with ISPM 15.

Working with Velonex

What clients usually bring us in for on this lane

Deciding between a direct Chancay service and the established Callao routing, which is a genuinely new choice and not one most importers have recalculated yet.
Getting the China Peru FTA certificate of origin right, so the duty relief the shipment was priced around actually materialises.
Mining equipment and spares for the southern regions, where downtime cost dominates every other consideration.
Using advance clearance properly so the cargo moves shortly after discharge instead of waiting for a reactive process to start.
Cargo continuing beyond Peru into Bolivia or along the Pacific coast, where the onward leg belongs in the plan from the beginning.

Get a quote

Tell us what needs to move to Peru

We listen before we quote. Share the cargo, the deadline and the constraint, and we will come back with a route that accounts for all three, the documents it will need and a timeline we can stand behind.

Your details

Includes your name, company name and email address

Shipment route

Includes your pickup location and destination

Cargo type

Includes the type of cargo you are shipping

Special requirements

Includes a short note about your challenge

Timeline

Includes your desired timeline

Your quote

A tailored response based on everything above

Corporate logistics partner

Trust, clarity and operational follow through for complex cargo.

Not ready for a quote? Email info@velonex-hk.com or message us on WhatsApp with the question and we will answer it.

Sources

Where this information comes from

General guidance, last reviewed August 2026. Customs rules and product requirements change, and the treatment of any specific shipment depends on its classification, origin and value. Confirm the detail with us or with the authority before you commit to a movement.

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