Venezuela seaports need spending boost, says former agency head

Traders of recyclable commodities who see an opportunity to move more material in or out of Venezuela in the wake of its regime change may be relying on freight sector infrastructure that has been neglected, according to one shipping executive.

An early January article by Stuart Chirls posted to the website of Tennessee-based FreightWaves, quotes a former Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) chairperson as saying that ocean shippers call on parts in Venezuela with years- or decades-old equipment, referring to some port facilities as “a disaster.”

“The ports are key to rebuilding Venezuela,” former FMC chair Louis Sola tells the publication. Sola, who held the FMC post in 2025, claims cargo operations that in an upgraded port may take 4 to 5 hours can take that many days in Venezuela.

Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez led Venezuela from 1999 to the beginning of this year, when a United States military raid resulted in the extraction of Chavez to stand trial on drug trafficking allegations in the U.S.

The tenure of both presidents was marked by hostile words toward the U.S. government and unfriendly actions toward American and European companies.

One recycling related company that was left with a stranded investment in the nation was Ireland-based paperboard producer Smurfit Westrock.

In September 2018, the packaging board producer, then known as Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG), announced, “Due to the continuing actions and interference of the government of Venezuela, SKG is no longer able to exercise control over the business of Smurfit Kappa Carton de Venezuela.”

A current list of the company’s locations on the Smurfit Westrock website does not include Venezuela as among the countries in which it operates.

Throughout this century, Venezuela’s government cultivated stronger diplomatic ties with Russia and the People’s Republic of China rather than the U.S. or most European nations.

However, the FreightWaves article indicates container shipping lines including CMA CGM, Maersk, MSC and Seaboard Marine maintain service to Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, with Denmark-based Maersk telling the freight news service it has a staff of 17 people in the nation.

Port handling services in Puerto Cabello had until recently been managed by a locally based but international consortium known as Pan American Port Operator LTD Corp. S.A. However, that organization’s “concession for agent and maritime services [was] seized by the Maduro regime this past May,” says FreightWaves.

Chirls closes his FreightWaves article by citing published reports indicating the U.S. government is planning to a trip for infrastructure firms and other companies to Venezuela this March “to assess conditions.”

In 2025 metals recycling-related statistics gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Geological Survey, Venezuela does not appear as recurring buyers or sellers of steel, aluminum or copper scrap, although fellow South American nations Brazil, Colombia and Peru sometimes appear on those lists.