The Hongli 8 appears close to leaving Jose port in Venezuela, loaded with around 30,000t of urea, which would mark the first shipment of urea since the US raid and capture of the country's president on 3 January, according to vessel tracking data providers.
The vessel has updated its destination for Panama, set to arrive on 17 January, according to vessel tracking data from Kpler and others. But there was no confirmation from the parties linked to the vessel. The cargo is understood to be loaded and ultimately destined for the Mexican west coast.
The US raid and capture of Nicolas Maduro rocked Venezuela at the start of the month and prompted a spike in already elevated freight rates from the country's ports, complicating urea flows. Producers slashed urea prices in a bid to maintain sales liquidity. But the situation has since calmed and the US has altered its stance regarding restrictions on Venezuela's crude sales, prompting speculation that a similar approach may be extended to other commodities.
Venezuelan urea typically heads to Brazil, as well as some other nearby markets and Mexico. Venezuela is home to three major urea facilities, with a combined operating capacity of up to 2.2mn t/yr of granular and prilled urea. But exports have varied widely in recent years, with Argus' consulting arm estimating Venezuelan urea exports at just over 400,000t in 2025, down from over 700,000t in 2020-21.
