Weekly Bitumen Report: The Uptrend of Bitumen Despite Crude Oil Decline

On October 26, at midnight, Israel’s retaliatory airstrike attack against Iran happened. After that, Iran requested an urgent session of the United Nations and asserted its right to retaliate.

At the same time, Israel continued its attacks in Lebanon and Gaza, leading to numerous casualties.

The U.S. presidential election will be held in less than 2 weeks and all the countries follow its news closely. According to the polls, Kamala Harris is significantly ahead of Donald Trump.

China’s supportive actions over the past month to improve the economic situation led to an increase in customer support and economic growth. As a result, gold demand rose. Analysts believe that the Chinese government’s support package will improve China’s economic situation within the next months.

Within the last week, crude oil price reached its lowest level in the past month which contributed to the hopes for a probable ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. Reuters reported that global markets are focused on a potential ceasefire and the gradual easing of OPEC’s voluntary oil production cuts, and, in contrast to a possible reduction in U.S. fuel inventories, led to a sharp decline in oil prices during trading on Wednesday, October 30.

In a report by Axios, it was mentioned that America announced that the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah might be gained within the next weeks.

On October 31, Brent Crude oil reached $72. Singapore’s 180CST was closed at $461.

The bitumen prices in Singapore and South Korea were recorded at $460 and $435, respectively.

For more than a month, Bahrain’s bitumen has been trading at $395.

The range of bitumen prices in Europe was $465-510.

After a significant increase in mid-October, the bitumen price in India seems likely to rise again by November 1st.

The price of bitumen in Iran continues its upward trend, reaching the highest level of prices for the year 2024, despite the unprecedented increase of the US dollar against Iran rial, a competition of 19% among the refineries, and a shortage of vacuum bottom. It seems that even a decrease in oil prices may not have a significant impact on reducing prices in Iran, as internal factors currently remain the primary determinants for pricing in the country.

To check the latest bitumen prices at different destinations, check Infinity Galaxy website: https://infinitygalaxy.org/bitumen-price-today/.
This article was prepared by Razieh Gilani, the export manager of Infinity Galaxy.