Weekly Bitumen Report: Bitumen Market, Global Prices, and Internal Pressure

In the past week, Donald Trump and his team signed economic contracts in the Middle East, lifted sanctions on Syria, negotiated for the freedom of an American citizen who was held captive by Hamas, and stopped military operations on the Houthis in Yemen. The import tariffs of the U.S. against China were significantly declined. They instructed Ukraine to have negotiations with Russia in Turkey. The indirect talks between Iran and America about nuclear agreements continued and they even claimed that they played a mediating role in establishing a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

All these incidents occurred in one week in the world at an unexpected pace.

In the Middle East, Israel continued the wide wave of military attacks in the Gaza Strip and they will continue these operations until the region is fully cleaned.

The continuation of the Russia-Ukraine war and border conflicts between Pakistan and India persists, and it seems that America’s plans have not led to any positive results for the world.

Despite all the tension and geopolitical changes in the world, Brent crude oil reached $63. Singapore 180CST closed at $448. In Singapore and South Korea, bitumen prices were observed at the level of $395 and $380, respectively.

In Bahrain, the bitumen is still being traded with an unchanged price in the channel of $370. The range of bitumen prices in Europe was $405-450.

The local prices of bitumen in India were supported slightly due to the high demand in peak season. However, the surge was lower than expected and a very slight increase is anticipated on June 1.

The situation in Iran got more complicated with respect to a severe shortage of containers, competition for VB purchase by the refineries, electricity imbalance in the refineries, and the onset of early heat.

Besides, the unclear status of indirect negotiations between Iran and America and fluctuations in the exchange rate in Iran affected the export situation in Iran significantly.

However, the price of bulk bitumen has decreased slightly, while the price of packed (drum) bitumen in Iran has almost continued its upward trend with a low slope.

Currently, in Iran, domestic factors influencing the price of bitumen are more significant than international factors, and it is not possible to predict a clear trend in prices due to the daily changes in these factors.

Nevertheless, the pressure to increase prices is much greater than the pressure to decrease them.

You can check the Bitumen Price page on the Infinity Galaxy website to see prices in different regions: https://infinitygalaxy.org/bitumen-price-today/.

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