By Sebastián Betrancourt
Despite a start to the year with cargo transfer performance below the volumes recorded in the same period of 2024, the Port of Arica is projected to close 2025 exceeding 3 million tons mobilized.
This was indicated to PortalPortuario by the general manager of the Empresa Portuaria Arica (EPA), Jorge Cáceres, at the event Nodo Bioceánico Arica 2025. The mechanical civil engineer acknowledged the contribution of the new regular services that have arrived at the maritime station, such as the direct connection with Chancay and the recently introduced Alpaca loop by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).
“This 2025 has been a rather abnormal year, we had a somewhat weak first half due to political and currency problems in Bolivia, therefore we started the previous year, 2024, low, practically in a minute by almost 20%,” stated the executive of the state-owned company.
“However, in this second half, this has been changing, it has been recovering in terms of cargo, and today, we are 3%, almost 4% above the year 2024 and projecting that we will be above 3 million tons mobilized by the Port of Arica, which has us expectant regarding what 2026 will be like. We believe it comes with very good news for the port,” he added.
In this regard, Cáceres emphasized that “the incorporation of the direct service with Chancay at the beginning of the year led to a significant change in cargo, and now in October the Alpaca service was added, which means a lot of competitiveness and already on its first call it has generated important movements and has established itself as a viable alternative in time and cost for cargo going to Asia. Therefore, this fills us with expectations for what is coming next year.”
When asked if from the Empresa Portuaria Arica they observe the progress that Peru has made in port matters and its respective projects, particularly those in areas close to Arica, the general manager of EPA emphasized that “yes, indeed. We see that the sector is moving with these projects, which also gives signals that these markets are looking towards the Pacific through the ports and, therefore, we also rise to the occasion to develop expansion and optimization projects, in order to be attentive to market demands.”
“So we have been advancing in our project portfolio, we have had a minerals project at the port to allow greater efficiency in mineral dispatch and, at the same time, greater capacity and transfer speed. Likewise with other projects that are being advanced in time in order to keep pace mainly with demand,” he added.
Cáceres also stressed that one of the challenges the state-owned port company must address is to consolidate everything discussed at the Nodo Bioceánico Arica 2025, a meeting that took place in the regional capital over three days and brought together various actors from the logistics and foreign trade sector of the Andian macro-zone.
The event was held with the objective of establishing agreements to promote the transit of goods through the Central Bioceanic Corridor, benefiting territories of Chile, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru.
“We believe, like our peers, that there is an opportunity for all of us. So we have high expectations,” concluded the professional.
