Industry & Retail

While there are disagreements regarding the short-term economic forecast for industry, the consensus for 2018 is considerably more upbeat. By that time, reconstruction and other infrastructure projects should be well under way, delivering the positive shock that the domestic economy, and the sector, urgently requires. In addition, the retail sector in Peru has been the second-fastest-growing sector of the economy over the past decade, after construction, driven by rising consumer spending. Retail sales peaked at $64bn in 2013-14, before falling back to an average of $61bn in 2015-16, in line with the slightly cooler economy. Peru’s total private consumption has more than doubled in nominal terms since 2007 to peak at $132bn in 2014, easing a little in 2014-16 to around $126bn, and the country ranks seventh in the region for this indicator, meaning that there is tremendous room for growth.

This chapter includes interviews with Alfredo Pérez, General Manager, Alicorp, and Juan Pablo García Bayce, General Manager, Gerdau Siderperú.