BCR: Resumption of Shougang and Poderosa mines would benefit the economy

The advancement of the national economy until May has been favored by the inertia of the productive apparatus, which is not yet considering the impact of the Port of Chancay's operational start, affirmed the president of the Central Reserve Bank (BCR).

“The May advance occurred despite the drop in production in the mining sector due to the interruption of the Shougang and Poderosa mines,” he said during the presentation of the third coin in the numismatic series “Peruvian Pre-Columbian Ceramics,” alluding to the Vicús culture.

In that regard, it considered the progress made in May to be a decent result, and therefore the BCR is maintaining its forecast that the Peruvian economy will grow by 3.11% year-on-year by the end of this year.

Regarding your forecasts for the coming months, you mentioned that both Shougang mining company and La Poderosa have already resumed their productive activities (which would be reflected in the dynamism of the economy).

The mining company Shougang is located in the San Juan de Marcona district, Nasca Province, Ica Department, Ica Region, on the Peruvian coast, 530 km southeast of Lima. Its main product is iron.

In May, the Chinese mining company Shougang had announced to its workers in Peru the suspension of its operations for a period of five months due to the breakdown of equipment used to load mineral for export onto ships.

Meanwhile, Poderosa mine is located in the district and province of Pataz, in the La Libertad region. It is situated at an altitude ranging from 1,250 to 3,000 meters above sea level. It is one of the country's main gold producers.

In May, the production of this mine was affected due to announced actions to control illegal mining activity in Pataz.

Chancay without it

Verlarde stressed that the performance of the Peruvian economy up to May is not yet reporting the effects of the Chancay Port's entry into operation.

“The advance of the Peruvian economy is more due to the inertia of national productive activity, he reiterated.

He thus emphasized that between January and May, gross domestic product (GDP) had already grown by more than 31% year-over-year.

Dynamics

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI), in May of this year, domestic production increased by 2.671% compared to the same month in 2024.

That result exceeded market analysts' forecasts. For example, the BCR had projected growth of around 2.51% in the third quarter of this year, as had the Peruvian Institute of Economics (IPE).

Chinese economy

On the other hand, the Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCR) recommended caution in taking optimistic forecasts about the Chinese economy's performance and including them in the outlook for the Peruvian economy.

“These best-case forecasts should be taken with caution because the application of tariffs by the United States must affect China in some way. We need to see if the best results of this Asian economy can be maintained throughout the year,” he said.