Weekly Bitumen Report: Hopes for A More Promising Market in February

On the verge of the one-year war between Russia and Ukraine, Russia is planning a major offensive.
Ukraine’s Minister of Defence states that Russia is preparing a force of around 500K conscripted soldiers to mark the first anniversary on 24 February.
In addition to the wide life losses, this incident might lead to a surge in fuel and crude oil prices throughout the world.
The unprecedented inflation in England created a new wave of nationwide strikes in Britain. This is the biggest strike in England since 2011, which will have considerable effects on the supply chain of the world.
On 1 February, the first meeting of the OPEC+ Supervision Committee in 2023 was held. The members found it improbable to see any change or increase in the production portion, and most probably, OPEC+ will maintain the agreed decision made in October 2022.
Although in the last 2 days of January, Singapore’s HSFO CST180 faced a heavy fall up to 25 USD, it increased by 5 USD on 1 February, and Singapore’s bulk bitumen was closed at 505 USD.
South Korea’s bulk bitumen increased up to 5 USD and reached 425 USD.
In Bahrain, the bitumen was traded at 325 USD for the second consecutive week.
In Iran, although Rial devaluated significantly against the US dollar, the bitumen prices showed upward signals due to competition of over 66% on vacuum bottom among the refineries. In the meantime, the issues of internal transportation in Iran due to cold weather and other concerns delayed the delivery of cargo to the southern ports.
On the other hand, the notice of GRI, which was previously announced by the shipping lines, has not been finalized clearly that can be a result of weak export rates compared to last years.
In India, bitumen prices decreased 14.5 USD for the third time in 2023. However, it has been heard that the prices will increase in the second half of February.
For the time being, it seems that the market situation is not in line with the export season, but the exporters hope for a more promising market in February.

This article was prepared by Razieh Gilani, the export manager of Infinity Galaxy (www.infinitygalaxy.org).