Weekly Bitumen Report: Positive Trends vs. Markets Resistance

By the announcement of Saudi Arabia’s decision regarding the extension of voluntary production cut, on August 4, the members of monitoring committee of OPEC and non-OPEC agreement suggested not to make any changes in the current plan of supply cut.

On the same day, in addition to Saudi Arabia, Russia announced the extension of its voluntary supply reduction till September and the deputy prime minister of Russia predicted that the global demand of crude oil will exceed to more than 2 million barrels per day in 2023.

However, based on the received reports from America, its employment rate was stable in the last month. Hence, America’s economy is expected to face an upward trend instead of severe fall and huge unemployment. On the other hand, no promising news is received about the economy of the second power of the world, i.e., China.

On the first 2 days of this week, Singapore’s HSFO CST180 faced 17 USD fall. However, by the end of Tuesday, it was traded at 548 USD. The bitumen prices in Singapore and South Korea were 443 and 400 USD, respectively.

It is heard that Bahrain will increase its bitumen price by around 30 USD, and it will reach 440 USD.
The average of bitumen price among the European refineries reached above 550 USD.
Considering rainy season and buyers’ refusal to purchase bitumen in India, it is anticipated to see another increase of around 24 USD in the mid. of August in this market.

If crude oil exceeds 88 USD, more rise in the prices can be expected.

During the last week, the average competition to purchase vacuum bottom in Iran was about 50%, and considering the equity of US dollar against Iran Rial, the signals of uptrend can be expected. However, buyers’ pressure to receive lower prices has faced the market with a confusing situation. Anyway, it seems that if the uptrend of crude oil goes on, Iran bitumen price can follow its rising trend.

You can simply contact the experts of Infinity Galaxy to make smarter business decisions.
This article was prepared by Razieh Gilani, the export manager of Infinity Galaxy (www.infinitygalaxy.org).