Keda Peru could invest about US$300 million in its glass project in Cañete, south of Lima, if it builds a second production line, general manager Michael Xu told the Lima business daily Gestión in an interview published Friday 9 October 2026. The first plant cost about US$150 million. Xu said the second would cost “practically the same.”
The money isn’t committed yet. Keda has announced no firm start date, permit or financing plan for the second line.
Capital Follows Energy
Asked why the company chose Peru’s central coast, Xu didn’t talk about politics or subsidies. “The most important thing is energy,” he said, pointing to water, electricity and natural gas at a competitive price. It’s a plain statement of what moves private capital: reliable inputs at a fair cost.
The company opened Peru’s first float glass factory on Wednesday 7 October. Float glass is the flat, smooth sheet used in windows, doors, shop fronts and car windscreens. State newspaper El Peruano put the plant’s capacity at 600 tonnes a day. Xu said it was producing 450 to 500 tonnes a day and should reach 600 within two to three months.
Phase Two Depends on the Market
The second phase would add a melting furnace and production line, with a start expected between 2027 and 2028. Xu said the timing hinges on how the first line performs and on market prices. Gestión also cited glass import levels as a factor. A third phase would produce higher-value goods such as mirrors and automotive glass, but no budget or date was reported.
About 70% of output is meant for Peru and 30% for nearby markets, according to Gestión. The company said it could begin exports to Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia and possibly the United States at the end of October, starting at about 10 containers each. Keda estimates that replacing imports would save Peru more than US$70 million a year in foreign currency.
Peru has had a free-trade agreement with the United States since 2009, and goods made in Peru can enter the American market under the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. But Keda hasn’t said what U.S. duties, if any, it expects its glass to face. It hasn’t said how much glass would reach the United States or how its price would compare with Chinese imports.
Government Backing and Open Questions
President Keiko Fujimori opened the factory in San Vicente de Cañete, Andina reported, while Production Minister Juan Carlos Requejo attended. “Not only will we stop importing glass, with this plant we are going to export to the rest of the region,” Fujimori said, according to the National Society of Industries, Peru’s main manufacturers’ association.
The project’s numbers don’t line up neatly. Gestión cited 400 direct permanent posts, while the government cited 850 over five years. The presidency put the first line’s cost at more than US$130 million; El Peruano and Gestión reported US$150 million. El Peruano said construction created about 1,000 jobs, mostly local.
The timeline also ran long. The project began about three years before Xu’s interview, and a 2024 Production Ministry resolution had set 15 May 2025 as its investment deadline, Gestión reported. The plant opened in October 2026.
The Chancay Shadow
The factory sits south of Lima, separate from the Chinese-run port of Chancay, about 70 kilometres north of the capital. Keda hasn’t said which port it will use for exports. Chinese President Xi Jinping took part in Chancay’s opening on 14 November 2024. Chinese shipping group Cosco owns 60%, Peruvian miner Volcan holds 40%, and the port cost about US$1.3 billion, Forbes Perú reported.
Days after the opening, Mauricio Claver-Carone, then an adviser to Donald Trump’s transition team, floated a 60% tariff on any product passing through Chancay. He extended the idea to any port in the region owned or controlled by China, Gestión reported.
Keda Peru operates under the Twyford brand and belongs to Twyford International, which Gestión says Chinese machinery and building-materials group Keda Industrial Group controls. Twyford runs 31 production lines in nine countries and employs more than 15,000 people. Cañete is its first industrial project in South America. Corporación Limatambo, Corporación Corrales and HPD Glass Group are listed as strategic partners.
Why This Matters:
A US$150 million plant that could double to US$300 million is real private investment, and it’s drawn by energy costs rather than handouts—the kind of signal Peru’s policymakers should want to protect. The risks are just as concrete. Phase two hasn’t been funded or permitted, and Xu tied it to market prices and import levels. Export plans to the United States rest on a trade agreement in force since 2009, yet Keda hasn’t addressed possible duties. Earlier tariff talk around Chinese-owned infrastructure shows how quickly Peru’s trade position could turn on decisions made in Washington. Investors will watch whether the first line hits 600 tonnes a day and whether the market supports a second.