Weekly Bitumen Report: New Cyber War in the Middle East and Probable Price Changes

The explosion of hundreds of pagers in Lebanon created another wave of attacks against Hezbollah which is contributed to Israel. In the meantime, in the first press conference of Iran’s president, he stated that Israel attempts to pull Iran into a regional war. The smallest tension in the Middle East can affect the trend of crude oil prices.

Besides, due to aging and shortage of budget, the retirement age in China will gradually rise for the first time since 1950s. This matter can cause more worries about the economic situation of China as the second economic power of the world.

Meanwhile, on September 18, US Federal Reserve reduced the interest rate up to 0.5 points that led to frustration among the capitalists as they expected more changes in interest rate and fluctuations in the market, but this slight fall led to insignificant reactions in the market. It is not clear how the markets of gold and crude oil will be during the next week.

The increase in U.S. oil reserves has led to a reduction in concerns about security due to rising tensions in the Middle East, alongside the negative impact of falling U.S. interest rates, keeping Brent crude prices within the $70 range.

On Thursday, Brent Crude Oil price closed at 74 USD. Singapore 180 CST reached 432 USD.

Bitumen price in Singapore and specifically South Korea raised gradually and the records of 515 and 430 USD were observed, respectively.

In Bahrain, the bitumen price was stable at 395 USD and Europe bitumen prices were fluctuating in the range of 360-430 USD.

The price of bitumen in India, which had experienced a decrease of about $19 for mid-September, is expected to face another decline for the beginning of October, unless there are changes in oil prices in the market in the coming days.

Bitumen production in Iran is still facing with the issue of vacuum bottom shortage along with the logistic issues like container shortage and port congestion. However, despite the significant fall in crude oil prices, an average VB competition of about 8% was observed among the refineries. It seems that the export conditions in Iran are currently at their most challenging time, facing a shortage of vacuum bottom and containers on one hand, and on the other hand, the declining fluctuations in oil prices.

To check the latest bitumen prices of different destination ports, please visit https://infinitygalaxy.org/bitumen-price-today/.

This article was prepared by Razieh Gilani, the export manager of Infinity Galaxy.