Global Bitumen Market Update – 22 May

Bitumen prices showed a modest upward trend across several key Asia-Pacific export hubs, while European export markets remained broadly stable amid subdued supply and demand conditions.

In Europe, domestic truck prices increased in Germany and Romania, although some truck export values into Romania softened slightly. Meanwhile, domestic prices in the UK and France remained largely unchanged due to balanced market fundamentals and limited trading activity.

Across the Mediterranean region, cargo prices generally held firm as tight supply conditions continued to support the market. However, overall regional demand remained restrained following elevated price levels that emerged after the onset of the Iran conflict.

In Africa, heavy rainfall across major markets including Nigeria and parts of South Africa negatively impacted construction activity and reduced bitumen demand. Despite weaker consumption, truck prices across much of sub-Saharan Africa remained stable following recent increases driven by higher import and freight costs.

Singapore bitumen prices edged slightly higher due to reduced availability of June-loading cargoes. Nevertheless, upward momentum remained limited as buyers maintained cautious purchasing strategies and showed little urgency to secure additional volumes.

South Korean export prices also strengthened, supported by firm upstream crude oil values and tighter supply availability. However, demand from East China continued to remain weak during the ongoing rainy season.

Meanwhile, Iranian export activity stayed subdued as persistent shipping disruptions and limited vessel availability weakened buying interest and increased inventory pressure on suppliers.

Global Waterborne Bitumen Market Snapshot

The latest global FOB bitumen pricing map highlights significant regional price disparities across major export hubs, reflecting ongoing supply constraints, freight pressures, and geopolitical uncertainties.

Iran remains the most competitively priced supplier in the global market at approximately $451/t FOB, maintaining a substantial pricing advantage over other regional exporters despite continued logistical and shipping disruptions.

In Asia, FOB prices were assessed around:

• Singapore: $567/t
• Thailand: $560/t
• Bahrain: $550/t
• Taiwan: $555/t
• South Korea: $534/t

The relatively firmer Asian pricing environment continues to be supported by tighter supply availability, stronger upstream crude values, and cautious spot market activity.

European export markets remained considerably higher, with FOB prices assessed at:

• Rotterdam: $671/t
• Baltic: $663/t
• Greece: $651/t
• Spain: $646/t
• Turkey: $646/t
• Italy: $643/t

Higher refinery costs, elevated energy prices, and tighter regional supply fundamentals continued to support European values.

Meanwhile, West Africa remained one of the highest-priced import-dependent regions, with Ivory Coast assessed around $753/t FOB equivalent, reflecting elevated freight costs, limited local supply, and strong import reliance.

Read More: Global Bitumen Market Update – April 2026 (Summary)

Market Insight

The current pricing structure reinforces Iran’s strong competitive position in global bitumen exports. However, ongoing shipping restrictions, vessel shortages, and geopolitical risks continue to limit the country’s export potential despite its attractive FOB pricing advantage over Europe and several Asian suppliers.

West Africa Bitumen Market

Bitumen cargo prices into West Africa softened slightly as Mediterranean HSFO values edged lower, while regional bitumen differentials remained largely unchanged. Spanish FOB cargo differentials stayed around flat to Mediterranean HSFO values, while Ivory Coast premiums held at approximately $105–110/t.

Market activity across West Africa weakened as heavy rainfall impacted key countries including Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Cameroon earlier than the typical rainy season period. Market participants reported signs of an early seasonal slowdown, which is expected to reduce construction activity and bitumen demand over the coming months.

Despite softer demand conditions, multiple cargoes continued arriving into Nigerian and regional terminals, raising concerns about growing inventories following recent sharp increases in domestic truck prices.

Overall, West African bitumen markets are entering a weaker seasonal demand phase amid heavy rainfall, rising inventories, and cautious downstream buying activity.

East Africa Bitumen Market

Bitumen import prices into East Africa increased sharply amid ongoing supply shortages, particularly from Middle East Gulf suppliers, as continued US-Iran tensions disrupted regional shipping flows and limited export availability.

Iranian export prices strengthened, with bulk bitumen assessed at $436–466/t FOB Bandar Abbas and drummed cargoes at $504–534/t FOB.

Container freight rates from Bandar Abbas and Jebel Ali to key East African destinations including Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, and Djibouti remained elevated at around $250–260/t following recent increases by international shipping lines and Iran’s IRISL fleet.

However, actual trade flows remained extremely limited because of shipping disruptions, restrictions around the Strait of Hormuz, and the continued impact of US sanctions on Iranian trade activity.

Market participants also reported increasing delays in dollar-denominated transactions as international banks implemented stricter compliance checks on both buyers and sellers linked to Iran-related trade.

South Africa Bitumen Market Update

Severe rainfall and stormy weather caused widespread infrastructure damage across South Africa’s Eastern and Western Cape provinces, further disrupting construction activity and reducing bitumen demand.

Despite the seasonal slowdown, market participants expect road repair and maintenance work during the southern hemisphere winter period to support demand better than in previous years. Industry sources indicated that government authorities may allow more paving activity than usual during the winter months, potentially limiting the decline in construction activity to around 30% compared with typical winter reductions of up to 50%.

Singapore Bitumen Market Update

Singapore bitumen prices edged slightly higher amid limited availability of June-loading cargoes, although gains remained constrained by weak regional demand and cautious buyer activity.

Supply from Singapore refiners remained tight as most producers had already committed available June volumes early in the cycle. At the same time, lower-priced south China cargoes became less available after exporters raised offer levels following strong earlier sales activity.

Bitumen continued trading at a significant discount to 380cst high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO), reducing production incentives and limiting additional supply growth.

Selling indications from suppliers increased to around $575/t FOB Singapore and above due to tighter spot availability, while formula-linked discussions for June cargoes reflected modest premiums over prevailing market assessments.

Demand across Southeast Asia remained soft:

• Vietnamese buyers stayed largely inactive because of high domestic inventories and sufficient existing stocks.
• Indonesian import interest emerged briefly for June-loading cargoes but weakened as the week progressed.
• South China demand for Singapore-origin material remained limited as domestic Chinese prices continued to offer more competitive alternatives.

Overall, the Singapore market remained supported by tight supply conditions, although weak downstream demand continued to cap upward price momentum.

China Bitumen Market Update

China’s domestic bitumen prices edged higher as tight supply conditions and firmer upstream crude oil values continued to support the market, despite weak seasonal demand during the ongoing rainy period.

In Shandong province, ex-works prices increased to around Yn4,300–4,520/t ($632–665/t), supported by reduced refinery production and limited crude feedstock availability. Buying activity remained cautious and largely focused on lower-priced material.

East China prices also moved higher, while South China offers remained stable. Trading activity stayed limited as many refiners continued production cuts or shutdowns because of scarce crude supply and funding constraints.

Import discussions into both East and South China remained subdued:

• Buying indications for East China were capped at around $580/t CFR due to the absence of South Korean June-loading cargoes.
• South China import indications remained near $600/t CFR amid tight regional supply.

Export activity from South China also stayed limited because of feedstock shortages. May-loading cargo discussions were reported around $560–570/t FOB South China, while June offers increased toward $590/t FOB and above on expectations of tighter regional supply conditions.

A major South China exporter is also scheduled for maintenance in June, which is expected to further reduce export availability in the coming weeks.

India Bitumen Market Update

Bitumen inventories on India’s west coast tightened significantly as multiple tankers remained stranded in the Middle East, pushing domestic selling prices sharply higher and limiting product availability.

Import demand increased, but shipowners remained reluctant to load Middle East-origin cargoes until regional shipping restrictions ease. Many importers in Karnataka were reportedly close to selling out of available inventories.

Middle East suppliers under inventory pressure continued offering cargoes around $320–330/t FOB, although shipment schedules remained uncertain. Meanwhile, some Southeast Asian offers emerged above $600/t CFR west coast India, while workable buying levels remained capped near $600/t CFR.

Domestic prices for imported bulk cargoes rose above Rs80,000/t ($828/t) including taxes in parts of western India, compared with around Rs70,000/t the previous week. However, buying activity remained limited as many contractors considered current price levels commercially unviable.

Market participants expect prices to soften once shipping disruptions ease and delayed vessels begin arriving in India, although this depends on cargo arrivals ahead of the upcoming monsoon season.

Imported drum inventories also remained critically low because container vessels continued facing difficulties bypassing regional shipping restrictions. Several cargoes booked before the escalation of the US-Iran conflict have yet to be discharged.

India’s bitumen consumption declined sharply to 598,000t in April, down 31% year-on-year from 862,000t, marking the weakest April demand level since 2020. Market participants expect overall paving season demand to remain below normal as elevated domestic prices continue to pressure contractors and infrastructure activity.

Iran Bitumen Market Update

Iran’s bitumen export market remained under pressure as ongoing regional shipping disruptions continued to limit vessel availability and weaken international buying interest, resulting in rising inventory pressure across the supply chain.

Despite subdued trading activity, offer levels for prompt-loading cargoes remained broadly stable compared with the previous week, as suppliers resisted lower buying indications amid persistently high production and logistics costs. Market participants also noted that Iran’s customs reference rate for foreign currency repatriation remained above prevailing export offer levels, further pressuring exporters’ margins.

Read Also: Iran Bitumen Market Analysis

Production levels declined as several private producers reduced or suspended operations, which also weakened demand for vacuum bottom (VB) feedstock across the domestic market.

Bulk cargo offers from suppliers facing higher inventory pressure were reported around $315–325/t FOB Bandar Abbas. However, trading discussions remained limited as ongoing maritime restrictions and vessel disruptions continued to affect loading schedules and cargo movements.

Regional exports to neighboring markets nevertheless continued, as alternative supply origins remained commercially less viable because of elevated freight costs, logistical uncertainty, and war-risk premiums. Bulk cargoes traded at around IRR490,000–500,000/kg ex-Esfahan, while drum exports to Pakistan and Afghanistan were assessed at IRR660,000–680,000/kg. Additional discussions were also reported around $355/t FCA Mahi Rood, Afghanistan.

In regional transit markets:

• Cargoes offered into Oman were discussed around $440–450/t CFR Oman and later resold near $570–590/t ex-works Oman.
• Bulk deliveries into Turkey were indicated around $410/t delivered Dogubayazit, although border congestion continued to impact logistics efficiency.

Seaborne drum export activity remained particularly weak as container shipping disruptions reduced import demand across South Asia. Non-embossed drum cargoes were offered around $390–410/t FOB Bandar Abbas, while Jey embossed material was indicated at approximately $420–430/t FOB. However, these offers were not widely workable because loading schedules remained uncertain and container vessel availability continued to be heavily restricted.

Many buyers delayed new purchases until regional shipping routes stabilize, while several cargoes booked before the escalation of geopolitical tensions remain undelivered. Shipping lines also continued raising freight rates and cancelling previously scheduled container bookings.

Exports of jumbo bags and flexitank cargoes were largely inactive, although limited jumbo-bag offers emerged around $540/t ex-works Oman. No significant fresh offers were reported directly from Iranian ports for these cargo formats.