Peru's Chinese-built mega port to soft launch in late November with Shanghai route

LIMA (Reuters) -Peru's massive Chancay port, which authorities hope will become a major shipping hub for South America-Asia trade, will ship two container ships a week beginning late next month, an executive for port operator Cosco Shipping said on Friday.

After the port's inauguration in mid-November, it will initially cover a direct route to Shanghai and then may ship to other points in the Asian market, depending on demand, said Carlos Tejada, general manager of Hong Kong-based Cosco's local subsidiary, Cosco Shipping Chancay Peru.

"At the end of November, we will begin the stage known as 'test conditioning,' which we expect to run until May. However, during this soft launch phase, we can already handle actual cargo, with two direct vessels per week," the executive told reporters following a Peruvian-Chinese business forum.

Tejada said that cabotage routes will be opened with smaller ships from Colombia, Ecuador and Chile, whose cargo will later be shipped to Asia from Chancay, initially in ships carrying up to 14,000 containers, which will then be progressively increased to larger vessels holding up to 24,000 containers.

Cosco Shipping Ports owns and will operate the port with a 60% stake, with the remaining 40% held by Peruvian miner Volcan, which is controlled by Glencore.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Adam Jourdan)