Bitumen / Asphalt
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Latest bitumen / asphalt news
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India's 1H26 bitumen imports halve on US-Iran conflict
India's 1H26 bitumen imports halve on US-Iran conflict
Singapore, 21 August (Argus) — India's bitumen imports fell by 50pc on the year in the first half of 2026 as the US-Iran conflict and a US naval blockade in the region disrupted vessel logistics, leaving most vessels chartered by Indian market participants stranded inside the blockade. Imports totalled 905,000t during January-June, down from 1.81mn t in the same period last year, according to the latest Indian customs data from Global Trade Tracker (GTT). Second-quarter imports were 271,356t, down by around 68pc from 857,419t a year earlier, the data show. Exports from Iran, a key supplier of bitumen to India, fell because of the conflict and the de facto closure of the strait of Hormuz from March, while the US blockade in the Mideast Gulf added further pressure. Although some vessels crossed the blockade in April, import volumes stayed low as most vessel owners were unwilling to risk crossing on fears of US attacks. US forces attacked at least two bitumen tankers in June, saying that the ships had attempted to evade the blockade. India is a net importer of bitumen and lacked alternate supply sources because of unviable seaborne values in Europe and Asia and tight supply in southeast Asia. But buyers with urgent requirements sought cargoes from south China, and around 5,000t were imported from south China in June, the data show. This was the second cargo from south China this year. A state-controlled refiner imported this cargo, purchased on a formula-linked price based on the Argus fob Mideast Gulf assessment, underscoring regional supply tightness. Official import data for July and August has yet to be released, but imports are expected to remain subdued as renewed US-Iran tensions and a fresh US naval blockade since mid-July have left bitumen vessels stranded in the Mideast Gulf and many vessel owners are hesitant to load a cargo from Iran, Indian importers said. July and August are typically the peak monsoon months in India. This year's monsoon has brought less rainfall than last year, but it has still affected imports and halted projects where thunderstorms occurred, particularly in the northeastern and southwestern states. India has received about 10pc less rainfall than average so far this monsoon season, which began on 1 June, with some western and southern states recording deficits of around 30pc, the meteorological service said. Conditions are likely to clear by mid-September, allowing previously delayed projects to resume. By Sathya Narayanan and Chloe Choo Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Eni restarts Taranto bitumen output after VDU halt
Eni restarts Taranto bitumen output after VDU halt
London, 14 August (Argus) — Italian integrated oil firm Eni has resumed bitumen production at its 88,400 b/d Taranto refinery in southern Italy, according to a source familiar with the plant's operations. The restart comes much earlier than had been indicated in early July , shortly after the halt in the refinery's bitumen operations. A source close to the refinery had said at the time that the bitumen shutdown would continue for a few months. Market participants had said the disruption was caused by an unexpected halt to the refinery's vacuum distillation unit (VDU), which had stopped cargo export loadings and truck supplies. The VDU, which supplies vacuum residue feedstock for Taranto's bitumen production, is understood to have restarted, enabling bitumen output to resume gradually. But the unit has yet to return to full operations. Eni is still maintaining force majeure on bitumen supply to some customers, including one cargo customer that had agreed term flows from the refinery this year. Small-scale truck supplies were reported out of Taranto by Italian market participants in the first week of August. The first bitumen tanker to load a cargo at Taranto since early July, the 7,645 dwt 3B Destiny , completed loading on 14 August. The cargo will be shipped to Lebanon, mainly into Beirut. BB Energy Group's trading affiliate 3B Trading owns and operates the vessel, which was re-delivered to it by Algerian state-owned Sonatrach's Hyproc shipping arm with effect from 1 April. Market participants said a switch from running onshore bitumen-rich Italian crudes such as Tempa Rossa to imported seaborne cargoes of alternative crude slates may have contributed to the technical problems with the VDU. The refinery has continued to receive seaborne crude and has also delayed a planned turnaround because of strong refining margins. Eni's head of industrial change Giuseppe Ricci said in July that maintenance had been expected in September, "but we are moving this shutdown for a couple of months in order to gain all of the period" of anticipated strong margins. By Navneet Vyasan and Keyvan Hedvat Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
SMB in new plan to expand Ivory Coast bitumen refinery
SMB in new plan to expand Ivory Coast bitumen refinery
London, 12 August (Argus) — Ivory Coast refiner SMB has revived plans to expand production capacity at its 10,500 b/d bitumen-focused Abidjan refinery years after a previous expansion project was delayed, according to market participants. Several market participants involved in the west African market said SMB, west Africa's sole bitumen producer and exporter, signalled its intention to expand capacity at Abidjan in a four-year project also involving bitumen storage capacity expansion. A leading bitumen supplier into Nigeria, the key regional bitumen market that receives regular cargo shipments from Abidjan, said the Ivory Coast producer was planning to expand Abidjan's bitumen production capacity by a third from a current 300,000t/year to 400,000t/yr. SMB did not confirm and said "any information relating to our refinery projects remains strictly confidential". Abidjan refinery's total crude throughput is around 520,000 t/yr, mainly consisting of Latin American bitumen-yielding crude grades. The facility also produces small quantities of gasoil and kerosene. In 2017, company officials said [SMB planned to raise]((https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/1582208) bitumen production capacity at Abidjan to 480,000-500,000 t/yr by 2020, but the project suffered delays on cost issues. Completion was pushed back to 2030 a year after , but works on the expansion never started. One west African market participant expressed scepticism about the renewed SMB push to expand Abidjan, considering previous plans did not materialise. But another regional player believes work on the project to be imminent, citing "the accelerating pace of infrastructure investment decisions" in some countries — such as Senegal, Benin and Ivory Coast — in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). He also said global crude and bitumen supply dislocation caused by the US-Iran war and effective closure of the strait of Hormuz, as well as positive construction sector and bitumen growth prospects in west Africa, had persuaded SMB to revive its refinery expansion plan. Competition steps up SMB has faced growing competition from international trading firms shipping bitumen into key markets such as Nigeria and the firm's market share shrunk considerably. It supplied just over one-half of the west African market in the late 2010s. According to Kpler, bitumen cargo exports from Abidjan fell last year to 78,000t from 153,000t in 2024, although that was partly as a result of rising domestic demand in the run-up to Ivory Coast presidential elections in October last year. Trading firms Vitol, Trafigura and Gunvor, alongside long-established west African supply Rubis Asphalt increased? deliveries to Nigeria, the key regional market, last year. And a series of [newbuild bitumen tankers[(https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2785697) from Chinese shipyards in late 2025 and early 2026 took Chinese and other bitumen cargoes to west African destinations, especially Nigeria. Ten cargoes carrying a total 51,000t of bitumen have been exported from Abidjan so far this year, according to Kpler. Seven of them were shipped on Nigerian importer Gradient Bitumen's 6,033 deadweight tonne (dwt) Jane Asphal t to SMB's 30,000t capacity Warri, Nigeria, terminal.The other three were shipped on SMB's 5,897dwt time-chartered Accord and delivered into the SMB/Goil joint venture import terminal at Tema, Ghana. The latest was received on 1 June and since then the tanker has been inactive, according to vessel tracking data. A two-month February-March turnaround at the SMB refinery cut export availability and forced west African buyers to raise imports. Total bitumen cargo imports into Nigeria have according to Kpler hit 173,000t already this year, mainly due to a busy dry season first half before a sharp rainy season slowdown since mid-June. The volumes compare with 261,000t in the whole of 2025 and 242,000t in 2024, although Nigerian suppliers say actual Nigerian import totals have been surpassing 300,000t/yr and are set to grow steadily. By Keyvan Hedvat and Navneet Vyasan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Libya bitumen imports jump after Iran war-linked drop
Libya bitumen imports jump after Iran war-linked drop
London, 30 July (Argus) — Libyan importers have stepped up their bitumen buying over the past month after they cut back sharply on the massive price gains driven by the US-Iran war. Bitumen cargo imports have reached 43,000t this month, all into either Tripoli or Benghazi, compared with 18,000t in June, none in May, 6,000t in April and 13,000t in March, according to Kpler data. The earlier slippage had followed a 12pc jump in annual imports to 210,000t last year from 188,000t in 2024. That rally that continued into early 2026, with 18,000t in January and 21,000t in February, before a dramatic slowdown caused by the mid-February to mid-March Islamic fasting month of Ramadan and by the 28 February start of the US-Israel war with Iran. The June-July import surge is in part linked to urgent Libyan requirements for road and highway repair, maintenance and upgrade work, after months of weak buying when war-linked bitumen price escalation made it very difficult for importers to raise letters of credit (LCs) to finance deals. A sharp drop in bitumen outright prices, largely linked to dramatic crude and high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) falls during the three-week resumption of Mideast Gulf traffic through the strait of Hormuz from 17 June, facilitated the recent upturn. Outright prices for Greek bitumen cargo exports jumped from $386/t just before the the start of the US-Iran conflict to a $650/t peak on 22 May, before retreating to $425/t in early July. They have moved up again, to around $550/t last week, after hostilities resumed, road paving demand in Europe moved into peak season, and supply tightening again, with a prolonged halt in bitumen production and exports at Eni's 88,400 b/d Taranto refinery in southern Italy. Those factors drove up Mediterranean bitumen cargo premiums to year-highs against to fob Mediterranean HSFO cargo prices earlier in July. Cargo premiums have since jumped further, to $35-40/t fob Greece and Italy assessed premiums, adding to outright prices. Bunker fuel cost gains have also pushed up cross-Mediterranean bitumen tanker freight rates, adding to the delivered cost of bitumen cargoes. Market participants say as much as 30,000t of Iraqi Kurdistan sourced bitumen was discharged into Benghazi, eastern Libya, on the 37,000dwt Gunvor-operated White Pearl. It arrived on 19 July with its large cargo loaded at the Dortyol export terminal in Turkey. Gunvor and another regional bitumen supply and trading firms each had a chunk of the cargo. Another Iraq-sourced cargo, loaded at Turkey's Mersin on the 6,189dwt Iver Blessing , arrived at Tripoli, western Libya, on 26 July. The 6,065dwt Marlin Pearl , operated by Trafigura, arrived at Tripoli on 29 July with a cargo loaded at Greek refinery Helleniq Energy's Aspropyrgos facility. Suppliers say Libyan buying, which has historically been intermittent, could now slow sharply again, with tanks filled at Benghazi and Tripoli and as higher delivered prices begin to to discourage buying. Cargo premiums to Mediterranean HSFO cargo prices have, on a delivered basis, raced up to around $120/t for shipments to north African markets like Algeria and Morocco, and traders said Libyan importers would probably have to pay similar amounts to secure spot cargoes. By Keyvan Hedvat Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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