Thursday, May 13, 2010

India and Middle East bitumen trade report

The below report is generated by ICIS Pricing about bitumen trade state and pricing on 13 May 2010. for full report and other regions' data visit their website or contact Nadine.Spoeri[at]icis[dot]com for subscription enquirers.

As demand for imports continued to slow in India ahead of the country’s monsoon season, downward pricing pressure was seen on Iranian export prices. A 1,000 tonne bulk fixture for the Middle East markets was heard at $410/tonne FOB Bandar Abbas. With the possibility to export to India from June to August remaining very limited, most Iranian exports would find their way to Africa or the Middle Eastern markets.

Meanwhile, in the Indian domestic market, local prices remained stable after the rupee depreciated versus the US dollar, therefore neutralizing the impact of slightly lower CFR prices. List prices were unchanged at rupee (Rs) 26-27/kg ex-refinery with additional discounts of Rs 3-4/kg applicable on these list prices.

The outlook for pricing in the next three months remained soft amid the traditional rainy season low demand. The demand during this time would reduce to 25-30% of the normal and local refineries would divert production to fuel oil.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Turkey Market looks for Iranian Bitumen?

in the past 4 years in the market, I've always asked myself why the deals are limited between Iran and few countries. those I know are Kenya, India, Sudan, Iraq, Pakistan, China, Tajikistan and some more countries. but for example Azerbaijan and Turkey in neighborhood have never been in the list, as far as I know.
Turkey has a big market for construction and bitumen is surely needed for many road construction and other necessities. I had an email from a Turkish bitumen trader which I responded:

Dear Mr.Emad,
We are a young trading firm from Turkey, regarding petrochemicals.
We want to supply Iran bitumen to Turkish construction firms.
Therefore we want to make co-operation with you.
I prepared a sample chart to show our customers.
Please check it and advise us if we have to add somethings.
With which refinery do you make business? JEY or Pasargad?
How much quantity do you supply us max.?
Payment terms?
And, I will meet big construction firms this week, most probably they will ask me the valid price of bitumen.Could you please give me drum and bulk price?
For bulk, do you or customer arrange ISO tank?
Best Regards,
Serkan OZTURK

I responded:

Hi Serken,
Thanks for your email. I’d be pleased to cooperate with you. As you might found out, I’m a trader/dealer of bitumen, not a supplier.
We buy from both Jey and Pasargad refineries. We pay in cash mostly and this is a key problem now. because if we want to apply on LC, we have to finance the deal ourselves which depending on the case may need 500,000 up to millions of dollars. And sometimes it’s not possible for us.
I checked the charts, they are standard and fine, you may find more details on packing etc on Jey refinery, Pasargad Oil and Iran mercantile Exchange market websites.
We can supply up to 4-5K MT per month.
Payment is preferred to be in cash! (obviously everybody prefers to receive cash!) but if I can finance the deal, I will accept LC.
Price for in drums is roughly 530 USD per MT, for bulk it starts from 400, depending on the location.
Will keep in contact with you, if you were interested in other fields, let me know as well.
Warm regards,

Emad Honarparvar

* don't consider the price up to date since the email is a little bit old.