Romanian truck e-trading system affects bitumen flows

A new Romanian e-trading system for cross-border truck movements into and out of the country is likely to cause delays and border congestion, according to bitumen market participants.

The system, which requires Romanian recipients of trucked goods — including bitumen — from other EU countries to issue a confirmation code to enable incoming volumes to cross the border, became mandatory on 1 July after a six-month phase in. The same applies to Romanian truck exports to other EU markets.

Hefty fines will be imposed on firms seeking to make cross-border movements without the required e-accreditation, with the Romanian government looking to crack down on tax evasion as part of efforts to reduce a massive budget deficit.

The regulations do not apply to rail and shipping movements, which come under separate and existing trading and transaction rules.

A Romanian bitumen supplier said firms that have been using the system for the past few months should experience no significant issues now it is mandatory, although an EU exporter to Romania that has been using the e-system since January said some issues persist in completing cross-border truck shipments.

A third market participant, based in Romania, said there had been border delays since 1 July, affecting some bitumen truck import movements into the country, and that these would probably persist especially in cases where trucks arrive at the border outside working hours when the receiving company may not be immediately available to give the go-ahead.

Romania is one of Europe's leading bitumen buyers. Its imports accounted for all but around 100,000 t/yr of its domestic consumption, which was an estimated 620,000t in 2023, up from 547,000t in 2022. Rompetrol produces an annual average of around 100,000t of bitumen at its Vega refinery in Ploiesti, the only Romanian refinery that produces the heavy product.

A sizeable chunk of Romanian bitumen imports are moved by truck from refinery suppliers in EU states Hungary, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland and Austria — as well as from non-EU Serbia — while substantial imports are made in tankers delivering cargoes to Romanian Black Sea ports at Mangalia, Constanta and Galati.

By Keyvan Hedvat