The Constitutional Province of Callao is an important coastal city on the Pacific coast of southern Peru, just 15 km from the capital, Lima. Callao’s primary economic activity is trade, along with the fishing industry. Ocean freight to Callao is the preferred option for a great number of exporters who wish to have access to the Pacific side of the South American continent.
Peru is a growing market for U.S. exporters. In 2010, Peru experienced a stable exchange rate, low inflation, low unemployment, and an economic growth rate of nearly 10 percent. The U.S.-Peru TPA has provided the country a framework to make it an excellent place to do business.
The city also benefits from customs revenues. U.S. exports to Peru grew 37% in 2010. Principal U.S. exports to Peru in 2010 were machinery, chemicals, computer and electronics, petroleum and oil products, and transportation equipment. Fish, forestry products, wood, newspapers and books, and food products were the fastest growing sectors.
The Port of Callao, is Peru’s principal handling and warehousing port facility. It is managed by the APN (National Port Authority).
Currently, it features five quays with direct, jetty-type docking; two of these reach a depth of 34 and 36 feet respectively. The second of these - known as the North Quay - is licensed to APM Terminals. The South Quay is managed by DP World Callao. The annual flow of traffic here is usually a bit under 20 million tons of goods.
The Port of Callao’s infrastructure is now the object of large-scale remodeling, with the objective of allowing the port to handle container cargo from Panamax and Super Post Panamax ships. The ultimate goal is to convert it into a central hub port for the west coast of the South Pacific by 2018.
Callao is one of the main ports in Peru. There are other ports in neighboring countries that can also serve as an alternative to your ocean freight to Peru. These include ports such as the Port of Guayaquil, the Port of Valparaiso and the Port of Iquique.
→ Ship container to Valparaiso
With the goal of helping you optimize your contracting of ocean freight to Callao, we’d like to advise you on the two basic options that you have available here: full container (FCL) or groupage (LCL).
Opting for a full container will be your most economical option if the volume of your shipment is between 11 and 25 Europallets, which corresponds to the maximum capacity of standard 20-foot container and 40-foot containers respectively. Each Europallet has a dimension of 1.2m x 0.8m. Another way of measuring this is in cubic metres: a 20-foot container has a capacity of 30 cubic metres, while a 40-foot container has double that capacity.
Lastly, another way of measuring its capacity is by American or Standard Pallets. A 20 foot container can fit 10 of those, while the 40 foot containers 20 of those type of pallets.
The size of those type of pallets is: Standard (1.2m/47 ¼” X 1m/39 3⁄8”) and Euro (1.2m/47 ¼” X .8m/31 ½”).
FCL will also be useful to you if you want to guarantee the segregation of your products, thus avoiding contact with other exporters’ goods.
If your cargo will take up less than half the capacity of a container, we recommend that you opt for a shared container. This is known as “groupage” and permits you to cut much of the cost associated with transport, by paying only for the space you use.
Now that you know the basic differences between FCL and LCL, we recommend that you have a look at our rates on iContainers for when sending shipments to Callao.
What our ocean freight rates to Callao include
For more information, consult ship container rates for your ocean freight to Callao here.