A cargo of bitumen has left Singapore for South Africa for the first time this year, because of a lack of availability from key Middle East and south Asian exporting regions.
The 5,261dwt Bitumen Kosei loaded a 4,700-4,800t cargo earlier this week from Bukom and is scheduled to discharge in Durban in early September, data from trade analytics firms Vortexa and Kpler show. The cargo was purchased at a formula price basis Argus fob Singapore ABX 1, but further details were unavailable.
South Africa mainly imports bitumen cargoes from the eastern Mediterranean, and from the Mideast Gulf and Pakistan. But supply from two of these sources, Bahrain and Pakistan, have been halted for several months. With Saudi Arabian cargo exports likely to be unavailable for the rest of 2025, Singapore has become an alternative.
Although Singapore fob cargo prices are much higher than Middle East origin cargoes, and Singapore to Durban bulk tanker freight rates are significantly above those for Mideast to Durban routes, some market participants see the economics working for Singapore to South Africa.
Argus assessed weekly fob Singapore ABX 1 at $430.50/t on 15 August, and listed seaborne prices from Bahrain were $400/t fob Sitra. Iranian cargo export prices are $297.40-307/t fob Bandar Abbas.
Bahrain's state-controlled Bapco temporarily paused seaborne exports from June because of a planned turnaround and final phase of a major upgrading project at its 267,000 b/d Sitra refinery. Many market participants expect there to be little or no cargo export availability from Sitra, certainly for South Africa, with Bapco focusing on truck flows while bitumen production capacity is reduced.
Pakistani exports, usually 6,000t cargoes of pen 60/70 bitumen sold through tenders by the country's National Refineries (NRL) for loading in Karachi, have been paused since April in response to stronger domestic demand.
Some Middle East supplies, probably Iranian, continue to move to South Africa. But recent US sanctions have paused some of these. The 6,920dwt, Panama-flagged Xante was scheduled to discharge a Middle East-origin cargo in Durban by mid-August, but had to turn back after it appeared on a US sanctions list on 30 July. Its sister vessel, the 7,226dwt Ianthe, was also named by US authorities.
Bitumen production at Natref's 107,000 b/d Sasolburg refinery in South Africa will cease from September, ending the country's output. This will trigger more import requirements, on top of those prompted by enhanced government infrastructure budgets.
The Bitumen Kosei is the second tanker to have been loaded this year in Asia-Pacific for shipment to sub-Saharan Africa. The 5,927dwt White Sky arrived in Lagos, Nigeria, with a 4,900-5,300t cargo from Bukom earlier in August.
