Initially, the route will be direct to the Chinese port of Shanghai, and later, depending on the demand of exporters, shipments may be sent to other Asian destinations.

Peru's Chancay megaport, operated by China's Cosco Shipping, will start sending two container ships a week to the Asian market after its inauguration in mid-November, an executive of the firm said on Friday.

Initially, a direct route will be provided to the Chinese port of Shanghai and later, depending on the demand of exporters, shipments may be sent to other points in Asia, said Carlos Tejada, general manager of the subsidiary Cosco Shipping Chancay Peru.

"At the end of November we will begin the stage called test conditioning, which we hope will last until May, but in this trial phase we can already do real loading (...) with two direct ships per week," the executive told reporters after a Peruvian-Chinese business forum.

The port of Chancay is controlled by Cosco Shipping Ports with a 60% stake. The remainder is held by the Peruvian mining company Volcan, part of Glencore.

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

The executive reaffirmed Brazil's interest in using Chancay to export to Asia. "They are very motivated to use the port because it will reduce their logistics costs enormously."

Tejada said Cosco Shipping expects to announce rates for the port services it will provide in the coming days. "I can say that the rates will be very competitive, and competitive with the (neighboring Peruvian port of) Callao," he said.

The Chancay terminal has raised expectations in several South American countries, which produce grains, meat and minerals, and has posed a challenge for the United States and Europe, which are seeking to curb China's rise in Latin America.

The port of Chancay, some 70 kilometers north of Lima, is expected to be inaugurated on November 14 by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in mid-month, according to sources from the Peruvian Foreign Ministry.

Cosco Shipping Chancay's corporate affairs manager Mario de las Casas told Reuters that Xi and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte will inaugurate the port "virtually" from the Government Palace in Lima.