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.
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Venezuela crude to boost US Gulf coast asphalt stocks
Venezuela crude to boost US Gulf coast asphalt stocks
Houston, 21 August (Argus) — The return of Venezuelan crude to the US Gulf coast is expected to boost asphalt stocks this fall following limited heavy crude availability. A pair of Chevron-linked oil tankers carrying Venezuelan crude arrived at Gulf coast ports this week, according to Kpler data, the first since the US returned Chevron's waiver to export earlier this summer. Market participants expect rising flows of heavy Venezuelan Boscan crude to increase asphalt inventories in October, after stocks reached a record low of 4.7mn bl in May — 16pc below May 2024 levels and the lowest level for the month since 2014, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. Market participants reported tight supplies in the third quarter as well, with Gulf coast wholesale values holding above the Argus -calculated coker yield since late July. Lower heavy crude flows prompted lighter crude diets which dented asphalt production. The weighted average gravity of Gulf coast crude runs jumped up to 35.37° API in May, the highest level for any month in US EIA data going back to 1985. Venezuelan crude deliveries dried up in late June after the resumption of US sanctions against the country pulled about 200,000 b/d out of the Gulf coast market. May flows were already down by 41pc on the year. Gulf coast imports of Canadian crude also declined to 10.56mn bl in May, the lowest level for the month since 2014 as an April spill on South Bow's 622,000 b/d Keystone pipeline reduced flows by 13pc in the second quarter. Meanwhile, the spread between WTI and heavy Western Canadian Select has averaged about $12/bl so far this year, roughly 22pc below levels over the same period last year. Some refiners expect light-heavy crude spreads to widen over the third and fourth quarters on increased medium and heavy crude availability from Venezuela, Canada and the Opec+ group of countries. Wider light-heavy crude differentials, lower crude costs and slowing seasonal paving demand could push asphalt prices down across the US in the fourth quarter. The US EIA expects Brent crude values to average $58/bl over the fourth quarter this year, about 15pc below levels seen so far in the third quarter. By Cobin Eggers Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Brazil's transport expansion needs green clauses
Brazil's transport expansion needs green clauses
Sao Paulo, 20 August (Argus) — Brazil should add mandatory sustainability measurements into concession contracts to safely expand infrastructure along with private investment and decarbonization goals, panelists said at a climate summit in Sao Paulo on Tuesday. Brazil will invest around R228bn ($41.8bn) in infrastructure in 2025, up by 4.2pc from a year earlier, according to Brazilian industry association CNI's estimates. Identifying climate risks is vital to businesses' financial safety and involves adding sustainable metrics into new port, airport and highway concessions, Brazilian environmental management company Ambipar's global head of carbon solutions Soraya Pires said. "Every $2 invested in preventing extreme climate events helps save around $12-14 in remediation," she added. Investors must consider long-term environmental risks in concession contracts of highways, ports, airports and other transport infrastructure, which can last 25-30 years, Pires said. Incentives for sustainable practices would draw private investment better than sanctions would, panelists said. Brazil has recently auctioned a 30-year concession to administer a highway key to grains logistics in the center-west and port terminals in the center-south . It expects to hold more than 40 port and terminal auctions in 2025-2026 and is planning a series of highway and railways auctions for 2025 , aimed at increasing infrastructure to transport grains and fertilizers. By João Curi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Lack of government spending weighs on UK bitumen market
Lack of government spending weighs on UK bitumen market
London, 14 August (Argus) — The Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) issued a fresh warning today over "long-term underfunding" of the UK's road network, following four summer heatwaves that have worsened road surfaces. The "network resilience is declining", exacerbated by "a wide range of temperatures and weather conditions, including this summer's heatwaves", said AIA chair David Giles. The AIA's warning follows strong indications that UK bitumen and mixed asphalt demand continues to be in steady decline . It also coincides with new findings from motoring body the AA and the Pothole Partnership, which reported today a rise in pothole-related call-outs this summer. The AIA's annual local authority road maintenance survey, published in March, found that less than half of roads in England and Wales — including London boroughs — are classified as "good", with 15 years or more of structural life remaining. The survey estimated it would cost £16.81bn to clear the backlog of carriageway repairs and restore the network to a cost-effective condition. The UK now has only one bitumen-producing refinery — the Shell-Nynas joint venture at Eastham in northwest England — following Prax's exit from bitumen production at its Lindsey refinery in 2023. Domestic output has declined steadily since 2006, increasing reliance on imports. By Fenella Rhodes Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
UK construction, bitumen demand signals remain weak
UK construction, bitumen demand signals remain weak
London, 14 August (Argus) — Bitumen and mixed asphalt demand is declining further in the UK as road projects are cancelled as a result of restrictions in government infrastructure spending. The UK Mineral Products Association said the previous Conservative government's decision to curtail the massive HS2 high-speed rail project "looks set to have a negative impact in demand this year". It also said the cancellation in July this year by the current Labour government of the long-awaited £1.2bn ($1.62bn) A12 road widening project near Chelmsford and of the A47 Wansford to Sutton upgrading scheme, both in southeast England, further highlighted "a chronic lack of new large and small-scale infrastructure projects across the country. The association blamed "slow, delayed or deferred investment decisions, cost pressures and sluggish regulatory processes". Road and highway investment in the UK has been on a downward path for years , and road infrastructure work remains outside of the government's main spending priorities. But the most recent Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (Alarm) survey, published in March, concluded that more than half of the local road network in England and Wales has less than 15 years of structural life left because of insufficient allocation of government funding to local authorities. The last set of UK government data, published on 31 July, showed bitumen consumption had fallen by 3.8pc in the first five months of 2025 — compared with the same period last year — to 534,000t. That followed three successive annual declines from 1.838mn t in 2021 to 1.375mn t last year. Similarly, MPA data for mixed asphalt, 5pc of which is typically bitumen — along with aggregates, sand and other components — show mixed asphalt sales in 2022 fell by 6.5pc versus the previous year to 21.8mn t , followed by a further 6.9pc fall to 20.3mn t in 2023 and another 2.5pc slippage last year to 19.8mn t. The association's quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted data showed a 6.2pc drop in the first quarter of 2025 and while that was followed by a 5.8pc rise in the second quarter, the MPA said mixed asphalt volumes over the past four quarters were at their lowest in a decade. A construction sector player blamed political uncertainties and changes at central and local government levels were contributing to a fresh downturn in activity this year, as they were causing halts and slowdowns in budget allocations, operations and projects as a result. The market participant expects a 5-10pc asphalt market decline in the UK in 2025 compared with last year. In its report issued on 4 August, the MPA pointed to the government's pledge last month to spend £92.8bn on numerous road and rail upgrade projects, of which £10.2bn is set aside for rail enhancements and £24bn towards motorways, local roads and trunk roads. But the association added that while 28 of the road projects under the scheme had already received funding confirmation, 42 were still under consideration. By Margaux Laborde and Fenella Rhodes Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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