Bitumen / Asphalt
Overview
Global bitumen and asphalt spot prices are influenced by changing supply and demand fundamentals, VGO and crude prices. Argus is the only provider of global bitumen and asphalt spot prices assessed by a global team of reporters, based on market trade. Spot price coverage includes regional truck, rail and seaborne prices.
Latest bitumen / asphalt news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global bitumen and asphalt industry.
UK bitumen demand outlook downbeat ahead of budget
UK bitumen demand outlook downbeat ahead of budget
London, 23 October (Argus) — The outlook for UK road construction and bitumen demand is downbeat, with no clear prospects of a recovery from years of weakening consumption ahead of the government's budget announcement on 30 October. Construction sector buyers and refinery suppliers at the recent Highways UK conference said road and highway spending, and resulting bitumen demand, is likely to remain slow, with the government unlikely to commit larger sums as it looks to tackle a £22bn ($28.6bn) "black hole" in government finances it says was left behind by the previous administration. A European construction firm with a UK project portfolio said a number of major highway projects it had expected to begin in 2025 will probably be postponed to 2026, as a start next year would have required funding to be allocated to them well before now. A firm with extensive UK project work said its activity and volumes had dropped this year but that it was hoping for no further falls in 2025. Some of the funds due to have been switched from the UK's ambitious high-speed rail (HS2) programme into road building could end up plugging the financial gap. The previous goverment in November last year pledged £8.3bn from a massively curtailed HS2 would be spent on resurfacing more than 5,000 miles (8,000km) of roads over an 11-year period. Some market participants pointed to the government's commitment to a major housebuilding programme as something that could, if public and private funds are forthcoming, generate a significant boost to bitumen demand for associated paving and roofing work. Fixing potholes Additional demand could be generated from pothole repair work, after the most recent annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (Alarm) survey showed a further deterioration in road surfaces because of real-term cuts in local authority maintenance budgets. Transport secretary Louise Haigh pledged in October to fix a "pothole plague" as part of a government plan to repair up to 1mn more a year. An October 2021 spending review by the previous government had pledged more than £2.7bn of local highway maintenance funding over the three tax years from 2022 to 2025 to local authorities outside London and the eight largest city regions. The funds, including monies to fix potholes, have failed to arrest a decline on UK roads. Motorist body AA said that up to September this year pothole related breakdown call-outs have increased by 2pc compared with the same period of 2023. The other leading UK body representing road users, RAC, said its pothole-related breakdown numbers went up by 10pc in the 12 months to 31 March. Government data show UK bitumen consumption slipped to 1.54mn t in 2023, the lowest since 2016 . Consumption was 1.89mn t in 2021 and 1.56mn t in 2022. In the first seven months of this year consumption was 835,000t, 9pc down from 917,000t in the same period of 2023. By Fenella Rhodes and Keyvan Hedvat Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
MOH bitumen flows little impacted by refinery CDU halt
MOH bitumen flows little impacted by refinery CDU halt
London, 22 October (Argus) — A steady stream of bitumen export cargoes and truck supplies into inland markets have continued from Motor Oil Hellas' (MOH) 180,000 b/d Agioi Theodoroi refinery and terminal at Corinth despite the shut down of a crude distillation unit. The refinery was hit by a fire on 17 September which MOH said caused "damage" and injured three sub-contractors, adding that the refinery was running at a "lower capacity level" as a result. MOH has since remained tight-lipped about the operational status of the facility, although one of its crude distillation units (CDU) was shut as a result of the fire, and remains down, illustrated by considerably reduced crude deliveries . Bitumen trading, supply and buying firms on cargo and truck markets said the CDU halt, which they estimate could last 3-6 months, had caused no significant bitumen loading or supply issues, with production not as badly affected as for other products, most notably high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO). The outage helped drive refining differentials for Rotterdam HSFO barges against front-month Ice Brent crude futures from their usual discounts to a premium for the first time since August 2023 . Bitumen market participants also pointed to weaker than expected demand in key export markets including Romania and much of north and central Europe ahead of the usual winter activity slowdown — along with the continued rainy season slowdown in west African road project activity and bitumen demand — as contributing to keeping bitumen cargo values down. A sustained flow of typically 4,000t bitumen cargoes exported by Greece's other refinery bitumen producer, Helleniq Energy, under tenders and spot deals — with a fresh sell tender on 18 October for a 4-6 November cargo loading at its 137,000 b/d Aspropyrgos refinery — has added to east Mediterranean oversupply. Market participants said the most recent MOH cargo offers for standard Mediterranean cargo sizes around 5,000t have been at fob discounts of around $10/t to fob Mediterranean HSFO cargoes, while Helleniq exports are indicated at fob discounts of at least $15/t, with no sign of a boost to differentials following the fire. The latest bitumen cargo to load at Agioi Theodoroi is on the 5,897dwt Iver Accord , which today left the terminal for Djen Djen, Algeria. The 7,944dwt Lilstella , under time charter with an international trading firm, will make its second consecutive bitumen cargo loading at Corinth when it arrives on 24 October, with the first loading proceeding under the pre-agreed dates before being shipped to Mohammedia with the same loading schedule expected for the second. Another international trading firm moved an Agioi Theodoroi cargo to Mohammedia, arriving 19 October on the 8,021dwt Poestella , again with no loading issues indicated. The 4,531dwt Stella Maris moved a cargo from Corinth to a Thessaloniki storage facility — arriving 2 October — for onward truck shipment to inland export markets including Romania, where Greek product remains highly price competitive. The only loading issues reported occurred over the few days following the 17 September fire when a large cargo loaded at the MOH terminal on the 45,986dwt Rubis Asphalt bitumen tanker Bitu Atlantic was delayed and its volume lower than planned. That shipment was moved to Rubis' west African terminal hub at Lome, Togo. The Corinth refinery is one of Europe's leading bitumen producing and exporting plants, last year exporting around 1.1mn t, up from just over 800,000t in 2022. Helleniq Energy increased its Aspropyrgos cargo exports to around 100,000t last year from 70,000t in 2022. Six bitumen cargoes totalling around 24,000t will have loaded at Aspropyrgos in the month to 25 October. By Keyvan Hedvat Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
CSX forecasts softer 4Q rail demand
CSX forecasts softer 4Q rail demand
Washington, 17 October (Argus) — Eastern US railroad said it expects that fourth quarter commodity market conditions will be mixed, limiting some freight demand. "Going into the fourth quarter, near-term conditions look modestly more challenging," chief executive Joe Hinrichs said on Wednesday. But the railroad expects "modest volume growth", supported by a few segments including chemicals and agriculture. But lower locomotive fuel prices and the impact of international coking coal prices, which are linked to export rail contracts, could drive a decrease in total revenue during the fourth quarter. He estimated that impact at roughly $200mn compared with last year's fourth quarter revenue of $3.68bn. CSX expects to see a carryover of year-over-year momentum in chemicals, agriculture and food, forest products and minerals, while metals and automotive will continue to be challenged. Demand for metals shipments is predicted to soften through the end of the year. Interest in shipments, particularly steel, is soft because of "sluggish demand, ample supply and low commodity prices", chief commercial officer Kevin Boone said. A weaker-than-anticipated automotive market contributed to the drop in metals demand. Consumer demand for automotive products has been reduced by high retail prices and interest rates, which has led to increased dealer inventories and slower production, Boone said. But CSX expects that an "interest rate easing cycle will help these markets normalize," Boone said. Metals and equipment volume fell in the second quarter, primarily because of lower steel and scrap shipments. Shipments of metals and equipment fell by 9pc to about 64,000 carloads compared with the same three months in 2023. Revenue dropped to $208mn, down by 8pc from a year earlier. Automotive volume dropped in the second quarter because of lower North American vehicle production, CSX said. Automotive traffic fell to 301,000 railcars loaded, down by 2pc from the third quarter 2023. Automotive revenue dropped to $98mn, down by 3pc compared with a year earlier. The outlook for fertilizer shipments is mixed following the third quarter as a decline in long-haul phosphates shipments persisted. Volume was negative, but the railroad was able to haul some profitable spot shipments. Shipments of fertilizer fell to 45,000 carloads in the third quarter, down by 4pc from a year earlier. Fertilizer revenue dropped to $118mn, down by 5pc from a year earlier. CSX expects growth in some market segments. Chemicals freight demand is expected to continue growing following "consistent, broad strength across plastics, industrial chemicals, LPGs, and waste. That demand helped boost chemicals volume by 9pc compared with a year earlier. Chemicals revenue rose to $727mn in the second quarter, up by 13pc compared with a year earlier. Agricultural and food products shipping demand is expected to continue growing, led by demand for grain and feed ingredients from the Midwest for supplies. That follows a third quarter when higher ethanol shipments, as well as increased overall volume helped raise volume by 9pc from the third quarter of 2023. Revenue from shipping agricultural and food products rose to $416mn, up by 11pc from a year earlier. CSX expects intermodal growth to continue with the trucking market falling, which would help drive more container freight to rail. Intermodal shipments are goods shipped in containers and trailers between different modes of transportation. The 1-3 October strike by the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) did impact intermodal traffic, but the railroad was pleased with the "relatively quick short-term solution", Boone said. International intermodal volume during the third quarter rose because of higher east-coast port traffic. Domestic volume was mostly flat. Overall intermodal volume during the quarter increased by 3pc compared with a year earlier. But lower revenue per container helped reduce total intermodal revenue by 2pc to $509mn. CSX does not expect a major shift in coal volume through the end of the year as coal markets seem relatively stable and utility stockpiles are sufficient, Boone said. Rising natural gas prices are also unlikely to stimulate a "near-term step-up in volumes". Export coal demand has been consistent lately, particularly from buyers in Asia. But revenue per railcar for export coal could make a modest single digit drop, as contracts are tied to international coal benchmarks and prices fell earlier this year. Expport coal voume rose to 11.1mn short tons (10.1mn metric tonnes) in the second quarter on higher demand for thermal and coking coal. But domestic coal deliveries fell to 10.2mn st, down by 12pc from a year earlier, on lower deliveries to power plants and lake and river terminals. Rail coal volume fell by 2pc from a year earlier, while revenue dropped by 7pc to 553mn st. Total CSX profits rose to $894mn, up by 8pc compared with third quarter 2023. Revenue increased to $3.6bn, up by 1pc. By Abby Caplan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US west coast retail asphalt prices weaken with TMX
US west coast retail asphalt prices weaken with TMX
Houston, 16 October (Argus) — California retail asphalt prices declined in October as the 590,000 b/d Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) pipeline altered local crude dynamics. October prices for Bay Area, Los Angeles and Bakersfield racks dropped by $10/st to $40/st from September and ranged from about 8pc to 13pc below year-prior prices. October is typically a month with strong demand, and the National Weather Service reported below-normal precipitation levels over the past two weeks. Even so, asphalt prices were pressured lower by a weaker local crude index. The California state crude oil price index declined by roughly $32/st to $401.40/st for October, its lowest level since September 2021, as TMX becomes a valuable crude source for US west coast refiners. Retail asphalt prices in California typically follow changes in the state's index, which is linked to the cost of local crude in the Buena Vista and Midway Sunset fields. The monthly state crude index posting from January to April averaged a $95/st discount to WTI crude futures over the period. From May to October, following the commercial start of TMX, WTI's premium over the state index widened to about $104/st. The larger differential comes as refiners in California increased imports of Canadian crude even as TMX opened an outlet for oil sands producers to ship to Asia. Canadian crude imports to California refineries have more than quadrupled since the commercial start of the pipeline compared to the same time last year, according to Kpler data. Some market participants noted TMX crude produces high quality asphalt, but diluents added to improve flow on the pipeline has forced some refiners to limit runs. US west coast asphalt inventories averaged about 2.7mn bl from May to July 2024, according to the latest US EIA data. This is roughly 2pc below levels seen over the same period in 2023. By Cobin Eggers Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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