Weekly Bitumen Report: Contradictory Factors Affecting Oil and Bitumen Prices

In the past week, Israel has occupied over 400 kilometers of Syrian territory. It has destroyed more than 70% of Syria’s military capability through airstrikes to reduce the threat of future attacks on its territory.

In the meantime, the USA expressed its optimism about the new round of negotiations between Israel and Hamas and hopes for an even fragile peace between both parties before January 10^th, the entry of Donald Trump into the White House.

On December 19, Israel launched severe attacks against Yemen, which occurred after the Houthi attacks on Israel.

During the last week, Ukraine assassinated a general of Russia’s army in Russia. This incident raised anger in Russia and their attacks on Ukraine were expanded.

Simultaneously, America investigates the new round of sanctions against Russia’s oil industry and the European Union decides to impose sanctions against a shadow fleet of Russia’s oil tankers.

On December 19, crude oil prices were traded in the range of $70-73 as investors were cautious ahead of expectations for an interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve, while also assessing the potential impacts of new sanctions against Russia by the United States.

The strategist of IJ Institute believes that the additional sanctions imposed by the West and the possibility of the cut in the U.S. interest rate might change the oil market trend.

On Thursday, December 19, Singapore’s 180CST closed at $451.

Bitumen prices in Singapore and South Korea settled at $430 and $410, respectively.

The price of bitumen in Bahrain has remained within the range of $395 for several consecutive months, while the price of bitumen in Europe is trading between $400-430.

The price of bitumen in India faced a significant increase of $24 to $28 in mid-December after four consecutive periods of rising prices, marking one of the largest price increases in the second half of 2024.

In Iran, over the past week, due to extreme cold and energy shortages, more than 19 provinces of the country were almost semi-idle, and the export process has also slowed down. However, refineries competed for vacuum purchases by over 50%, and the price of the dollar has reached its highest historical level. It seems that under the current conditions, the pricing trend in Iran is not aligned with the pricing trends of other producers.

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.