In 1943, the government created the Corporation Peruana
del Santa (Peruvian Corporation of Santa). This entity assumed ownership of the
railroad, made improvements to the port, and began work on a hydroelectric
power station on the Río Santa (in the Cañón del Pato [Duck Canyon] in
Huallanca). The first stage of the power station was inaugurated in 1958; also
that year, an iron and steel plant was built. By 1943, the first companies
dedicated to the extraction of liver from the Pacific bonito fish arrived. This
liver was sold for a high price abroad due to World War II
