UK bitumen imports increased year-on-year to 225,000t in the first quarter from 191,000t, Kpler data show.
This rise came despite a spike in bitumen and crude oil values after the US-Iran war started on 28 February. Market participants attribute this to term supply deals struck at a fixed price by regional players before February, which offset the impact of rising crude prices.
UK domestic bitumen prices, which were assessed by Argus at £345/t ($470/t) delivered on 27 February, increased to £535/t delivered by the end of April. But this increase was less than other key European markets including Germany, France and Italy, where price spikes were much sharper.
The UK bitumen market is heavily reliant on imports. The country has just one bitumen-producing refinery — the 24,000 b/d Shell-Nynas joint venture at Eastham in northwest England. Last year, the country's bitumen throughput fell to to 322,000t, its lowest since 1995.
After the start of the Iran war, regional market participants expressed concerns over tightened crude supply into key bitumen producing refineries that supply the UK. But flows from Shell's 404,000 b/d Pernis refinery — the UK's primary source of bitumen — remained strong in March and April. Pernis exported 59,000t in March to the UK and 57,000t in April, Kpler data show, significantly up from 16,000t and 8,000t in March and April last year.
UK bitumen buyers have also reduced their reliance on north German refineries this year. The Brunsbuettel refinery only returned to full capacity in March after being hit by a fire in October. German first quarter exports to the UK more than halved from 26,000t to 11,000t, according to Kpler data.
The tighter supply could change in the coming weeks. Venezuelan crude was recently unloaded in Nynas' 13,900 b/d Gothenburg refinery, although this could not be confirmed. The plant also imported roughly 60,000t of Venezuelan high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) on 25 April aboard the 112,119dwt Seacalm, the first such supply since 2019. The 6,712dwt Bitpower loaded a bitumen cargo in Gothenburg on 4 May, for delivery into a terminal in Dundee, UK, for 7 May.
