New York
Finland
Neste Oil’s 54,500 b/d Naantali refinery will undergo a six-yearly five-week full maintenance shutdown in September. The refinery has a bitumen production capacity of 390,000 t/yr. The shutdown process will begin on 31 August, and the refinery is expected to be back in normal operation in mid-October. The last major shutdown was carried out in spring 2000.
Neste Oil separated from the Fortum Corporation in April last year. In August 2003 Fortum sold its bitumen business operations in Finland and the nearby areas to Scandinavian bitumen group Nynas (AAR, 04 Aug 2003, p12). The Naantali refinery continues to provide its bitumen production to Nynas under a long-term supply agreement.
France
Bitumen demand re-emerged in the second half of August following the end of France’s traditional holiday period and a very quiet first half of the month.
It was yet to be seen whether the shutdown of Shell’s Petit Couronne refinery in northern France for a month in the second half of June would still impact on bitumen availability now that demand was ramping up to peak levels. Bitumen was available for offloading at the refinery in late July, some 10 days after the start-up of the crude distillation unit damaged by fire on 20 June. During the shutdown, Shell was forced to supply its customers from its other refineries and from bulk purchases out of Rotterdam.
Domestic bitumen prices for September were expected to remain stable at current levels of around €295-310/t ($377-396/t) delivered in the south of the country and at €285-300/t delivered in northern France. Prices in the central region were assessed at €285-310/t delivered.
Germany
Bitumen demand moved up a gear last week following the end of the summer holiday period and the general market slowdown during the Football World Cup championships in June and July.
Demand in July and the first half of August was patchy. August sales volumes were considered reasonable but below those of last year. In contrast, September is likely to be a busy month of peak demand.
Bitumen supply in September is expected to hold up although there may be the odd day of shortages, market participants say. The second half of October is the period when bitumen could become in tight supply.
BP’s 265,000 b/d Gelsenkirchen refinery in southwest Germany will undergo major maintenance, including the closure of the vacuum distillation unit, in October which will last four weeks. BP is building up bitumen stocks ahead of the closure but the impact of the shutdown on the country’s bitumen supply will very much depend on the weather and the level of bitumen demand at the time.
Bitumen prices were broadly pegged at between €255-280/t ex refinery depending on region.
UK
UK sales volumes of asphalt were down by 11pc in the second quarter of 2006 compared to the same period last year, according to a survey by UK industry watchdog, the Quarry Products Association (QPA). The fall reflects a subdued market for road construction and maintenance, the QPA says, but the comparison is against very strong market growth in the second quarter of 2005.
Asphalt sales for the first half of the year fell by 8pc. The rate of decline of asphalt sales may moderate over the second half but, the QPA concludes, there is little doubt that the slow progress of road construction plans and the under-funding of local highway maintenance work will this year reverse the improvement in asphalt volumes witnessed in 2005.
The price of bitumen was assessed at between £215-230/t ($406-435/t) ex refinery
Send comments to feedback@argusonline.com
ntcw