Peru's October Imports: More From China Through Callao, More Fertilizer, Less Fuel

Bottom line: Peru imported US$7.11 billion of goods in October 2026, up 7.8% from September and the highest month since our series began in January 2026, as imports from China rose 35.8% to US$2.44 billion, most of them through Callao. Fertilizer tonnage more than doubled, while refined fuel imports fell 13.5% on lower volumes at a steady price.

Desk: Claudio, Peru. Dataset: Peru customs (SUNAT) import declarations, CIF values in U.S. dollars, weight in tonnes. Period: October 2026, compared with September 2026 and with May to July 2026. Data as updated 11 November 2026. Imports only. The series starts on 19 January 2026, so January is partial and year-on-year comparisons are not possible until 2027.

Key findings

• Total imports edged up 7.8% to US$7.11 billion in October 2026 from US$6.60 billion in September. August to October was 5.0% above May to July.
• Imports from China rose 35.8% to their highest month since January 2026, lifting China's share to 34.3% from 27.2%. Over three months the level is flat (August to October 1.5% below May to July).
• Callao took the extra Chinese cargo. Chinese goods entering through Callao's seaport rose 41.6%, while Chancay's imports fell 26.2% as car and truck arrivals there halved.
• Fertilizer imports (HS 31) rose 64.4% to US$123.1 million and their weight more than doubled to 264,193 tonnes, both the highest since January 2026.
• Refined fuels (HS 2710) fell 13.5% on volume (tonnage down 14.2%) while the value per tonne was flat (up 0.9%). Crude petroleum rose for a third month, by 10.3%, mostly on price.

The numbers

Values in U.S. dollars unless marked. Same month last year: not available (the series starts in January 2026).

October (US$7.11 billion) and July (US$7.04 billion) are the two largest months in the series.

Why did imports from China reach their highest month of 2026?

China is Peru's largest supplier, and 2026 has been a strong year for it: ADEX's analysis of SUNAT data shows that from January to September, China supplied 32.0% of Peru's imports, 28.4% more than a year earlier.

October went further. Imports from China rose 35.8% to US$2.44 billion from US$1.80 billion in September, 2.9% above July's US$2.37 billion, the previous high.

The arc matters: imports from China fell in August and September before rebounding, so August to October was 1.5% below May to July. This is a strong month after two soft ones, not yet a trend.

The US$643.6 million increase was broad, with ten product groups accounting for 70% of it. Iron and steel rose to US$181.5 million from US$78.3 million, vehicles to US$416.5 million from US$355.8 million, chemical products to US$67.9 million from US$19.2 million (mostly one biodiesel cargo), fertilizers to US$44.6 million from US$1.8 million, and toys and games to US$76.9 million from US$44.2 million.

Steel was the largest single change. Iron and steel from China more than doubled by weight, to 260,824 tonnes from 111,862, mostly coated sheet and plate landing at Callao, at an almost unchanged value per tonne (about US$696, against US$700): volume, not price. Chinese steel arrives in lumpy cargoes (US$171.3 million in July), and the data does not show why more came in October. Chinese cars and trucks rose 16.1%. Toys (HS 9503) nearly doubled to US$48.4 million, a sixth straight monthly rise before Christmas, and 87.7% of toys and games came from China.

The twist is the route. Chinese goods entering through Callao's seaport rose 41.6% to their highest month, while those entering at Chancay, the Chinese-operated port north of Lima, fell 20.5%. Only 6.8% of China's seaborne shipments to Peru by value landed at Chancay, against 11.9% in September. DP World Callao reported moving 200,000 TEU in October, the largest monthly volume in the history of its Muelle Sur terminal (Mundo Marítimo).

Chancay's imports fell 26.2% to US$205.7 million, mainly because cars and trucks fell to US$56.1 million from US$113.5 million.

A maize cargo also fell away, but declaration lines at Chancay barely moved (23,430 against 23,861), so the everyday flow appears to have held up. Cosco Shipping Ports reported that Chancay handled 139,669 TEU in the third quarter, 24.9% more than a year earlier, slower than the 70.9% of the first half (Mundo Marítimo).

Why so much at once? There are likely several reasons, and the data shows the cargoes, not the orders. Toys, footwear, and furniture all rose together, which fits stocking for the year-end season, though the customs record does not say so. And some cargoes were one-offs (see Verification notes).

What the data shows: October's imports from China were the highest since our series began, spread across steel, vehicles, fertilizer, biodiesel, and holiday goods, and they came in through Callao rather than Chancay. Over three months the level is flat, so one strong month is not yet a trend.

Why did Peru import twice as much fertilizer by weight?

Fertilizer is a small import by value but a heavy one. Mincetur figures reported by Agraria.pe show urea was Peru's main fertilizer import from January to July 2026, at US$77 million and 166,000 tonnes.

In October, fertilizer imports (HS 31) rose 64.4% to US$123.1 million and their weight more than doubled, to 264,193 tonnes from 121,920, both the highest since January 2026 (the previous high was May, at 186,903 tonnes). Three products carried the month: 91,536 tonnes of ammonium sulphate, mostly from China, 68,925 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, all from Russia, and 54,632 tonnes of urea, two thirds of it from China.

The cargoes were spread along the coast, led by Paita in the north (US$34.3 million) and Matarani in the south (US$24.2 million), rather than concentrated in Callao.

Urea was far cheaper than in the spring. The World Bank's urea price averaged US$420 a tonne in October, less than half its April level of US$856.9, and Peru's urea cargoes cost about US$484 a tonne including freight and insurance. Peru bought little urea from June to August (1,726 tonnes in August) and more from September.

The timing may reflect the start of the 2026/2027 farm season, but no source ties October's cargoes to it. Not all of it is for farms: ammonium nitrate is also the raw material for mining explosives, part of October's cargoes is declared as technical grade, and ADEX lists ammonium nitrate as Peru's main import from Russia from January to September (US$102.7 million, up 14.1%).

What the data shows: Fertilizer arrivals more than doubled by weight, with urea far cheaper than in the spring and the farm season under way. How much of the ammonium nitrate goes to mines rather than fields is not visible in the totals.

Was October's smaller fuel bill about price or volume?

Last month we asked whether Peru's fuel imports would keep climbing. In October, refined fuel imports (HS 2710) fell 13.5% to US$891.9 million from US$1.03 billion, though mineral fuels (HS 27) remained the largest import chapter, at 19.4% of the total.

The weight data answers the question. Tonnage fell 14.2%, to 600,285 tonnes from 699,696, below August's 627,563, while the value per tonne was flat at about US$1,486 (US$1,473 in September).

U.S. refined fuel was little changed at US$710.6 million; the drop came from Canada (US$138.6 million, from US$234.3 million) and Japan. The data does not show why volumes fell: third-quarter restocking may have paused, or it may be tanker timing.

Crude petroleum (HS 2709) moved the other way, rising for a third straight month, by 10.3% to US$435.6 million, the highest since January 2026 (April was US$411.0 million).

This rise was mostly price: tonnage rose 2.6% and the value per tonne 7.5%. Two Brazilian crude cargoes worth US$169.7 million, landing at Callao and Paita, made Brazil the third-largest supplier in October (US$533.2 million, its highest month). Crude from the United States fell to US$90.6 million from US$218.7 million, and crude landing at Talara, the northern refinery port, eased to US$132.5 million from US$171.6 million.

The World Bank's average crude price rose to US$108.5 a barrel in October from US$102.3. Brent reached about US$111 on 20 October, its highest level since May, as Iran stepped up attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz (Bloomberg Línea).

What the data shows: October's smaller fuel bill came from fewer tonnes of refined fuel at an unchanged price, while crude rose on price. The bill is still high: refined fuels from August to October were 54.1% above May to July.

Trade with the U.S.

Peru's own data: imports from the United States fell 12.1% to US$1.33 billion in October, 18.7% of the total, from US$1.51 billion (22.9%) in September, mostly on crude (US$90.6 million, from US$218.7 million) and off-highway dump trucks (US$4.6 million, from US$59.8 million). Refined fuels held at US$710.6 million, 53.5% of everything Peru bought from the U.S. Imports from China were 1.84 times those from the U.S., against 1.19 times in September.

Side by side, the two official views of U.S. goods entering Peru move together but never match.

Official U.S. Census data (latest month on hand: August 2026): U.S. exports to Peru rose 47.6% from a year earlier in August, to US$1.42 billion, and U.S. imports from Peru rose 52.7%. Peru records imports at CIF value on clearance; the U.S. records exports at FAS value on departure.

Policy: Washington announced new tariffs on 23 July 2026 under Section 301, with Peru in the group paying 12.5% (América TV). U.S. imports from Peru still rose in August, the first full month after the change, but one month says little.

What the data shows: The U.S. share of Peru's imports fell in October as crude and truck cargoes eased, while U.S. fuel held steady. Census data shows trade rising in both directions through August.

Verification notes

• Two weight entries look implausible. One sodium cyanide line from China declares 118,500 tonnes for US$0.27 million (the month's other cyanide lines run about US$2.5 a kilo), and one line of medical dialyzers from China declares 8,168 tonnes. Together they added about 126,668 tonnes to October's declared weight. Both are now in the anomaly register as contradicted: their weights are left out of every figure, and their values stay in the totals.
• Other October flags, all classified as explained in the anomaly register: biodiesel (HS 3826, US$40.9 million after almost nothing in August and September: tanker cargoes at normal prices), cranes (HS 8426, US$32.0 million, mostly one equipment delivery from China), prepared explosives for mining (HS 3602, US$22.4 million), rubber and plastics machinery (HS 8477, US$22.9 million), cane sugar (HS 1701, US$33.8 million at normal prices), and precious-metal ores (HS 2616, a third low month at US$19.6 million).
• Brazil's highest month rests on two crude cargoes; without crude, imports from Brazil were US$363.5 million.
• January 2026 is partial (from 19 January). Every "highest since January 2026" also exceeds each full month from February to September.

What to watch

• 13 November 2026: ENFEN's next El Niño communiqué; its latest outlook has the coastal El Niño keeping its magnitude until February 2027 before weakening gradually (Gestión).
• November imports from China (December edition): the upgraded Peru-China free trade agreement applies from 1 November 2026 (Gestión).
• ADEX's October import report, an official check on China's month (September's came out on 29 October).
• Chancay vs Callao in the fourth quarter: whether vehicles return to Chancay and whether Callao's October volume holds.
• Fertilizer in November: whether arrivals stay near October's 264,193 tonnes as planting continues.

Methodology and data notes

Figures come from CargoFax's processing of SUNAT import declarations (CIF value in U.S. dollars, declared weight in tonnes), as published on the CargoFax Peru imports report and updated 11 November 2026. Product-by-origin and product-by-port figures come from the line-level data, which reconciles with the published monthly totals; lines dated after 31 October 2026 are excluded. Customs office 370 is Chancay port. Value per tonne is a rough price proxy, sensitive to product mix. The two lines with implausible weights stay in the published totals but out of every tonnage figure quoted here. Our series begins on 19 January 2026, so comparisons are month on month and three months on three months; year-on-year figures from ADEX and the U.S. Census Bureau are theirs, with different coverage, timing and valuation. Export declarations in the feed are not used. Supplier names are withheld by Peruvian law, and no importer or exporter names from CargoFax records appear here.

Sources

Every link on this page passed the verification gate (live article, date in window, quote found, archived). Tier 1: Bloomberg, WSJ, Reuters, FT. Tier 2: other highly relevant sources (trade press, government, company releases, local press).

Tier 1

No Tier 1 source on this page.

Tier 2

• Tier 2 cien.adexperu.org.pe. Presentación de PowerPoint. 2026-10-29 archive
• Tier 2 mundomaritimo.cl. DP World Callao alcanza récord mensual de 200.000 TEUs movilizados en octubre. 2026-11-11 archive
• Tier 2 mundomaritimo.cl. Puerto de Chancay aumenta 24,9% la movilización de contenedores durante el tercer trimestre de 2026. 2026-11-11 archive
• Tier 2 mundomaritimo.cl. Puerto de Chancay aumenta 70,9% la movilización de contenedores durante el primer semestre. 2026-11-11 archive
• Tier 2 Agraria.pe Agencia Agraria de Noticias. Importación de fertilizantes crece en valor 1.4% a julio de este año. 2026-09-22 archive
• Tier 2 Bloomberg Línea. El Brent alcanza máximo de cinco meses ante la amenaza de Irán sobre el estrecho de Ormuz. 2026-10-20 archive
• Tier 2 América Televisión. EE.UU. impuso aranceles a 60 países, incluido Perú. 2026-07-23 archive
• Tier 2 Gestión. El Niño será extraordinario hasta febrero del 2027: ¿qué regiones tendrán más lluvias?. 2026-10-31 archive
• Tier 2 Gestión. TLC Perú - China: optimización del acuerdo rige desde este 1 de noviembre, ¿qué ganará el país?. 2026-10-28 archive

Data sources

• U.S. Census Bureau, international trade data through August 2026 (CargoFax Census pipeline, retrieved 19 October 2026).
• World Bank Commodity Price Data (Pink Sheet), monthly averages for crude oil and urea, retrieved 11 November 2026.