Guven readies new bitumen tanker for Ceyhan exports

Turkish bitumen trading and supply firm Guven Asfalt is to step up its bitumen trading presence in Mediterranean and Black Sea markets with a new bitumen tanker and the start of operations at the 45,000m³ (around 45,000t) capacity Torosport Ceyhan terminal in southeastern Turkey in the coming months.

The 8,500dwt newbuild tanker, named Havva Ana, is currently being completed in China by Zhejiang Tenglong Shipbuilding ahead of delivery to Guven. The firm is scheduled to bring it to the Mediterranean in May or June to begin trading activity. The Turkish firm plans to mainly target the key Romanian import market with cargo shipments, with some movements also anticipated into Mediterranean — principally north African — markets.

Guven recently took control of two bitumen terminals in Romania through its local subsidiary — a 16,500m³ storage facility at Medgidia situated along a canal running from the main oil and bitumen terminal facilities at the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta, and the 5,500m³ Floresti inland terminal.

With the Torosport terminal in Turkey now ready to operate after a lengthy wait, Guven's cargo exports will likely mainly be shipped from the terminal that handles imported truck flows of Iraqi Kurdistan refinery bitumen — like the nearby Mersin and Dortyol bitumen terminals — which are then loaded on specialised bitumen tankers, boosting Iraqi bitumen exports to European markets after a sharp decline since last autumn.

After the new 30,000t bitumen export terminal at Dortyol was completed in late 2022, large cargo flows began in December that year and continued — along with smaller cargo export loadings — through to September 2023 before weakening European demand and substantial export availability from Turkish refiner Tupras and Greek refiners Motor Oil Hellas and Helleniq Energy contributed to a halt in Dortyol flows which were becoming less economic.

Turkish exports, including those originating in Iraq, contributed to a surge in Mediterranean exports to northwest Europe to more than 1mn t last year, double volumes from just two years earlier.

By Keyvan Hedvat