Weekly Bitumen Report: Trump Remains a Key Influencer on Market Prices

In his new presidency term, Trump hosted his first guest, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. During his stay in America, Trump returned to the maximum pressure campaign on Iran and he proposed an ethnic cleansing plan in Gaza.

Donald Trump also agreed to postpone the 25% tariff implementation against Canada and Mexico for 30 days. However, the 10% tariff on Chinese imported goods will be applied.

In the meantime, according to a Reuters report, in their 58th meeting, the members of OPEC+ announced that they will remain committed to their agreed plan of the coalition despite Trump’s warning to OPEC regarding a cut in oil prices and do not pay attention to the message of America’s president. Besides, they removed the U.S. Energy Information Administration from among their sources used to monitor production and compliance of members with the OPEC+ supply reduction agreement.

During the last week, oil prices fell because of worries about the China-America trade war and the rise in the U.S. crude oil reserves, and on Thursday, it reached $74.

At the same time, Singapore’s 180CST closed at $487. Bitumen prices in Singapore and South Korea were closed at $445 and $420, respectively.

In Bahrain, bitumen prices increased by $25 after a quite long stability and hit the level of $420.

The range of bitumen prices in Bahrain increased to $420-470.

There were no significant changes in India’s bitumen prices, like mid. January and we should expect further changes for Mid. February.

In Iran, despite Trump's order for maximum pressure on the country, the price of the dollar did not show a significant change, and the competition for purchasing vacuum bottoms continues as in previous weeks. Currently, the price of bitumen remains at its previous level.

Considering the end of the New Year holiday in China, it can be expected to receive more demand from the markets of East Asia.

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