Peru Market Strengthens on Private Investment

The Peruvian market is strengthening, with its estimated four percent gross domestic product growth rate steady, and a rising count of international investments in major projects. While much of the new construction in the country will surround infrastructure and industry, the demand for architectural paint and coatings should follow as the housing and tourism industries pick up speed. Overall, the paint market in Peru including all segments is estimated at around $375 million.

Infrastructure Programs to Transform the Country

Despite ongoing natural disasters like last year’s El Niño and a recent 8.0-grade earthquake, Peru’s construction industry grew by 4.5 percent in 2018 and is predicted to increase at an annual rate of about five percent between 2019 and 2023, according to GlobalData.

The U.S. International Trade Administration (ITA) in October estimated that Peru’s general infrastructure needs by 2025 will require an investment of close to $160 billion, involving an annual investment of 8.3 percent of GDP for nine consecutive years. To help fund the initiative, Peru’s government is rapidly engaging public-private partnerships (PPPs) to increase private investment in infrastructure from a current 4.5 percent of GDP to six percent by 2021.

“With this increased funding comes a host of new opportunities for the Peruvian construction industry,” the ITA Peru Country Commercial Guide stated.

A key agency in the Peruvian infrastructure program is the national reconstruction authority, the Autoridad para la Reconstrucción con Cambios. Its 2018 mandate was “to initiate projects on the rehabilitation of over 540 bridges, 6,000 kilometers of national roads, 30,900 kilometers of rural roads and 45,000 kilometers of irrigation canals affected by the floods and mudslides during the early months of 2017, although many projects are not yet ready for public tender,” the ITA report detailed.

“Additionally, a reform package for the health sector, introduced in late 2013, was launched to include rehabilitation, construction, and equipment of 206 primary care centers, construction of 170 provincial hospitals, construction of 23 regional hospitals and construction of 13 national hospitals,” the ITA report added.

Similarly, the Ministry of Housing, Construction and Sanitation (MVCS) estimates that the total housing deficit in Peru is around two million homes, the ITA report specified. In addition to the goal of the construction of 500,000 new homes, the country needs to renovate another 1.5 million to close the housing infrastructure gap, the report said.

Private sector investors also have plans to build more hotels in Peru over the next several years, like Hilton, which has announced two new hotels by 2021. The new investments could double the value of hotel investments over the past five years, according to one industry estimate.

Private Investment Flowing

One of the largest construction projects about to start is the new $3 billion Port of Chancay for Hong Kong’s Cosco Shipping Ports. A financial transaction with Peruvian mining company Volcan was signed in May for the new port, to be located about 40 miles north of Lima. The port will include a container terminal, as well as bulk cargo, general cargo and rolling cargo facilities.

Chancay, a natural port with a depth of up to 45 feet, is located about 40 miles north of Lima. It will be able to receive the world’s largest Triple-E-type vessels, Cosco said.

Another transportation mode investment is underway at Lima’s Jorge Chavez International Airport, a $1.5 billion expansion aimed at building a second runway, a new terminal and aircraft slots. The Ayacucho, Arequipa and Tacna airports also will undergo an expansion of terminals and runways. A consortium that includes Italian builder Salini Impregilo SpA, Spain’s FCC Construccion and AECOM won a contract for expanding the airport, according to Reuters.

Toronto’s Polaris Infrastructure, engaged in the operation, acquisition and development of renewable energy projects in Latin America, is completing the construction of 28 MW of run-of-river hydro-electric projects in Peru. The company now operates a 5 MW run-of-river project in the country.

Similarly, Madrid’s Grupo Ibereolica’s plans to build the $300 million,186 MW Apurimac hydroelectric plant in Peru’s Cusco region. Among future projects for the company is the 392 MW Huánuco hydroelectric project. The company is targeting regional growth in the Brazil-Chile-Peru triangle.

The potential for the Chinese government and private investment in Peru is enormous. Chinese involvement in the region is increasingly being managed through China’s Belt and Road Initiative, China’s ambitious global infrastructure development and investment campaign, according to Marsh & McLennan. One Peru project under consideration by China is a rail line over the Andes to Brazil, with an estimated cost of $35 billion.

Paint and Coatings Grow with GDP

The consumption of industrial paints is clearly poised for growth in Peru, which should help entrenched suppliers like PaintPeru and Renner. But architectural consumption is also expected to grow, possibly more rapidly than the GDP rate. With a total consumption of 40 million gallons of paint and coatings, the per capita consumption was calculated at about 1.3 gallons, according to one estimate by Grupo Codelpa, the Chilean paint company that owns Cerecita in Peru.

Pinturas Ceresita, now being manufactured in Peru, is a rising player in the market. The company recently launched two new products in the country, Esmalte al Agua Cerecita (a water-based enamel), and Esmalte al Agua Semibrillo Ceresita (a semi-gloss).

Company stores operated by Sherwin-Williams should gain sales this year, as will domestically-owned Pinturas Vencedor – owned by Croma Color, distributed within the Sodimac home improvement chain.

Among recent paint and coatings investments, Sika Peru opened its new headquarters in Lima and opened a new plant for the production of concrete admixtures, mortar products, and acrylic liquid applied membranes. The new plant is expected to triple Sika production capacities in the country.

Finally, a dedicated paint and coatings trade show in Lima is being launched this year in August, the Feria Internacional de Pinturas y Recubrimientos Industriales Fiprec 2019. As the economy expands, the paint and coatings industry in Peru is growing more mature and more global.