Weekly bitumen report: The significant surge in the average rate of competition for Vacuum Bottom
The vacuum bottom competition in Iran is 50% and the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Iranian Rial indicates an upward trend
US consumer inflation has increased in July, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, with the consumer price index rising by 0.2 percent from June to reach an annual rate of 3.2%. This has contributed to a rise in US stock market futures on Thursday, as well as a decrease in the dollar’s value.
Following the announcement by Saudi Arabia on August 4 of an extension of their voluntary production cut, the members of the Monitoring Committee of the OPEC and Non-OPEC Agreement indicated that there would be no modifications to the current supply cut plan.
On the same day, Russia also announced that their voluntary supply cut would remain in place until September, and the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia predicted that global demand for crude oil would exceed two million barrels per day by 2023.
✓Bitumen Prices in the Middle Eastern Countries
Singapore’s HSFO CST180 saw a 17 USD decrease in price on the first two days of the week, however, it was trading at 548 USD at the end of Tuesday.
Singapore and South Korea had bitumen prices of 443 USD and 400 USD respectively. Bahrain is expected to increase their bitumen price by approximately 30 USD, while India’s bitumen price is expected to reach 440 USD. The average bitumen price among European refineries was above 550 USD, and due to the rainy season and buyers’ refusals to purchase bitumen, it is expected that bitumen prices will increase by approximately 24 USD in the middle of August.
It is anticipated that if the price of crude oil surpasses 88 USD, a further increase in the prices is likely. In the past week, the competition for vacuum bottom was approximately 50% in Iran, and the exchange rate of the US dollar against the Iranian Rial is indicative of an uptrend. However, the pressure of buyers to obtain lower prices has posed a perplexing challenge to the market. Nevertheless, it appears that if the upward trend of crude oil continues, the price of Iran bitumen is likely to follow suit.
This article was prepared by Shirin Yousefi, the Content specialist and market analyst of Infinity Galaxy