Weekly Bitumen Report: Bitumen Rise in East Asia and Iran, Fall in Europe

On Wednesday, September 25, the US, France, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and the European Union published a joint statement calling for Hezbollah and Israel to reach a temporary 21-day ceasefire. Concerns about the development of land warfare have increased and the Middle East may encounter a new crisis.

In the meantime, the 79th UN General Assembly was held in New York with the participation of high ranks of the member countries. In this event, the speeches of Iran’s new president about the necessity of tension reduction in the region and the Victory Plan of Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, were highlighted.

At the same time, while tension in the Middle East is rising, oil production in the Gulf of Mexico halted for the second time due to the Helene hurricane and the staff left the oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

However, with the announcement of the new economic plan in China since the outbreak of COVID-19, the decline in interest rates, and the governmental budget, crude oil prices increased on Tuesday, but they dropped about 1.7% on Wednesday due to the concerns about demand in China.

John Yong, the market strategist at IJ Institute believes that the lack of a more accurate financial approach from China’s government and some considerations about the continuation of economic improvements keeps the market in a worried position.

However, the chairman of ENI oil company, based in Italy, proposed the possibility of a rise in crude oil prices up to around 80 USD in the fourth trimester of 2024.

On September 26, Brent crude oil closed at 72.39 USD. Singapore’s 180CST reached 441 USD.

Bitumen prices in Singapore and South Korea were recorded at 528 and 440 USD, respectively.

In Bahrain, bitumen price remained unchanged at 395 USD and the range of bitumen price in Europe dropped further in the range of 395-460 USD.

The price of bitumen in India, after a decrease in mid-September and an expectation for further reduction by October 1, seems to observe a slight increase on October 1, coinciding with the end of the monsoon season in India, due to a change in the trend of bitumen prices in East Asia and the Middle East.

In Iran, an average competition of around 15% was observed which was unprecedented during the last 6 months. This competition mainly happened because of the vacuum bottom shortage. Additionally, the logistic issues affect the bitumen export situation in Iran. It seems the uptrend of Iran’s bitumen prices will continue further.

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.