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.
Mideast freight rate surge hits African bitumen buyers
Mideast freight rate surge hits African bitumen buyers
London, 6 March (Argus) — Leading international shipping lines have imposed huge surcharges for container freight rates from the Mideast Gulf in response to the escalating Iran war, pushing up delivered bitumen prices because heated bitutainers, drums and bagged product are moved in containers. The gains are largely notional, as suppliers and importers note negligible flows from Mideast Gulf ports and terminals, including on bitumen tankers, but are especially worrying for east African importers who are reliant on Mideast Gulf drummed supplies and some bulk tanker shipments. European suppliers said they too had been hit by hefty freight rate rises for their deliveries from west European ports to destinations like west Africa and the Indian Ocean islands. Geneva-based MSC and UAE-headquartered DP World said this week they were imposing War Risk Surcharges with effect from 4 and 3 March respectively, of $2,000/20ft container, $3,000/30ft container and $4,000/40ft container. These apply to "all cargoes exported from UAE trans-shipments hubs in Jebel Ali and Abu Dhabi to west Africa, east Africa, south Africa, Mozambique and the Indian Ocean islands." MSC said the situation in the Middle East is "affecting maritime traffic in the straits of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb and causing disruption throughout our network." Suppliers of drummed bitumen, which typically moves in 20ft containers, from Jebel Ali to east African destinations, said the surcharges would nearly double shipping costs for Iranian drummed product repackaged in the UAE. Rates for such indirect flows had been $2,300-2,450/20ft container before the 28 February start of US and Israeli military action against Iran. The rise will push up drummed freight rates to east Africa to $215-222.5/t. Some suppliers said they expect a slow resumption of Jebel Ali loaded exports in the coming days, barring any further war escalation. Regional bitumen suppliers said no change has yet been indicated by Iranian state-owned IRISL for direct shipments of drummed or bagged bitumen from Bandar Abbas, the country's key bitumen export point. As of late February, IRISL direct shipping rates to Mombasa and Dar es Salaam were in the $1,100-1,400/20ft container range ($55-70/t). Argus drummed freight assessments, calculated based on direct and indirect flows, were $90-100/t and $95-110/t respectively in the week ended 27 February. Shipping lines' war risk surcharges for Mideast Gulf container movements to Indian destinations via Hormuz are $1,000-2,500/20ft container ($50-125/t). A supplier of European bitutainers to west African and Indian Ocean islands destinations said rates on those routes had more than doubled since the war began to around €4,000/container, from €1,800/container until late February. By Keyvan Hedvat Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Firm seeks to resurrect California asphalt refinery
Firm seeks to resurrect California asphalt refinery
Houston, 4 March (Argus) — California may soon have more asphalt production, as Santa Maria Road Materials plans to restart a 9,500 b/d asphalt refinery in Santa Maria. Work on the restart is expected to be complete in June, according to a permit transfer application filed with the County of Santa Barbara last week. The project involves the ongoing replacement of all process steam boilers as well as the repair or replacement of process flow piping, vessels, pumps, heat exchangers, tanks, distillation towers and associated heaters, according to the application. The operation of a "truck transportation facility" at the refinery is also included in the plan. Market participants have noticed on-site work over the past couple of weeks, but many remain skeptical, noting the extensive repairs needed and Santa Barbara's difficult regulatory environment. The facility was previously owned by Greka Energy and produced paving and emulsified asphalt products as well as light feed stock, naphtha, kerosene and gas oil, according to documents filed with the county. The Santa Maria refinery ceased operations in 2021 because of fire code violations and was shut down in 2022, according to the California Energy Commission. The refinery was originally built in 1932. One refinery closes, another opens The potential restart of the facility comes as US independent Valero plans to idle its 145,000 b/d refinery in Benicia, California, by April, which is expected to boost asphalt trade flows and prices as buyers seek supply from farther afield. Valero began the Benicia refinery shutdown on 31 January. The pending loss of production has also spurred several other companies to look for ways to fill the supply gap. Construction firm Teichert is developing a new terminal in West Sacramento, California, after purchasing a former fertilizer facility with rail and waterborne access. Further south, Marathon Petroleum plans to produce asphalt and construct a truck-loading rack at its 365,000 b/d Los Angeles refinery in Carson, California, according to a project overview released by the company. Additional market participants continue to investigate expansion opportunities in the state. By Cobin Eggers and Sarah Tucker Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Venezuela reviewing latest ad-hoc oil contracts
Venezuela reviewing latest ad-hoc oil contracts
Caracas, 27 February (Argus) — Venezuela's state-owned oil firm PdV is reviewing 26 joint ventures granted from 2024-2025 to align them with changes to the hydrocarbons law or cancel them after the US has demanded reforms for investors. Now president Rodriguez began implementing new types of joint ventures, including some known as productive participation agreements (CPPs), after she took on the role of oil minister in October 2024 as part of her vice presidency. The arrangements could be retrofitted to match provisions under the recently modified hydrocarbons law, one PdV source told Argus , but more likely they may be cancelled. The 26 oil contracts granted after the ouster and arrest of former oil minister Pedro Tellechea in October 2024 and before the US seized former Venezuela leader Nicolas Maduro on 3 January are being reviewed, the PdV source said. Of those, 13 are CPPs. The PdV source said the US is pressuring Rodriguez to end those contracts since most of the other partners are non-US or little-known entities. "I think they will all be suspended," the source said. "What the Americans have told us is [any deals] need to be authorized by us." Rodriguez and Maduro granted the 26 deals in the two years but provided few public details. Even after Maduro was arrested on 3 January, Rodriguez still described the CPPs as a way forward to increase Venezuelan oil production. But once the law was modified the government and its partners were granted six months to adopt the contracts to the new law or cancel them. Sources say the arrangements were doomed to fail, since they were laboring from the beginning under the weight of US sanctions that are only now beginning to be lifted. "She granted two dozen contracts, but only five of those ... are in actual production", a former Venezuelan oil minister said. "Eliminating or retooling those contracts will have zero impact on production." Retooling those agreement or granting new ones may instead help to increase Venezuela's production from its plateau of about 1mn b/d in recent months. By Carlos Camacho Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Ukrainian bitumen imports to remain steady in 2026
Ukrainian bitumen imports to remain steady in 2026
London, 24 February (Argus) — Ukrainian bitumen import volumes are set to hold steady or increase slightly this year, according to European bitumen suppliers to Ukraine. Major refinery suppliers in Poland and Lithuania of the heavy product used in road paving and general construction work expect little change in their exports to Ukraine — mostly by truck — this year after Ukraine's bitumen imports jumped by 111,700t on the year in 2025 to 190,000t . Last year, Ukraine imported its highest volumes since 2021, the year before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that started the prolonged war. The latest monthly data show the country's bitumen imports edged up by 1,000t in January this year compared with the same month in 2025 to stand at 2,900t. This comes even though little road paving work is recorded during the winter months. Polish refiner and bitumen producer Orlen is looking to export around 100,000t of bitumen to Ukraine from its Polish and Lithuanian refineries this year, with potentially additional spot sales during the course of 2026. Market participants remain upbeat on Orlen's sales plan as its 373,000 b/d Plock refinery sold at least 95,000-100,000t into Ukraine in 2025, while the firm's Lithuanian arm Orlen Lietuva sold another 40,000t into Ukraine from its 190,000 b/d Mazeikiai refinery. The latter sold 1,300t into Ukraine in January 2026 and 7,600t in December 2025. But Orlen will shut the vacuum residue unit at its 374,000 b/d Plock refinery for planned maintenance work in the third quarter of this year, likely hitting bitumen production and supply. The Mazeikiai refinery is to undergo maintenance for around 30 days starting in March. Orlen Lietuva's overall bitumen sales from its Mazeikiai refinery totalled around 621,000t last year, up from 450,000t in 2024, according to sources familiar with the business. The 2024 dip in production was because of two lengthy periods of refinery maintenance. The firm expects total planned sales to be around 550,000t in 2026 with a possible increase based on Ukrainan demand, they added. Orlen Lietuva does not have term contracts with Ukraine and sales are based on a spot basis. The Plock refinery in Poland produced around 700,000t of bitumen in 2025, around the same level as in 2024. Unimot, Poland's independent supplier of oil products, including bitumen, is planning to export around 20,000-30,000t of bitumen to Ukraine from its Jaslo terminal this year, up from 10,000t in 2025, according to a regional market participant familiar with such flows. But in the current low season demand conditions, margins from such export sales remain low, discouraging exports. In March-December last year, Ukraine additionally imported 24,000t of trucked bitumen from the eastern Romanian bitumen terminal at Galati that sits along the Danube close to the Romanian Black Sea, according to figures compiled by Romanian market participants. Vitol's Romanian arm, Vitaro, which operates the bulk of tank storage capacity at the Unicom terminal in Galati, exported 19,000t of that total. A Russian drone strike on Ukraine's Odessa region in August last year caused damage to the country's Danube river port at Izmail that has since halted what had been occasional and small-scale bitumen cargo flows to Izmail from Galati along the Danube. The attack followed two consecutive part-cargo deliveries of bitumen over the previous month — each amounting to around 2,500-2,600t of the heavy oil product used in road paving — on board the 4,881dwt bitumen tanker My Worry after loadings at Motor Oil Hellas and Helleniq Energy export terminals in Greece. By Navneet Vyasan and Keyvan Hedvat Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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