Crude Started the Week Strongly
When all the markets are in fear of a financial crisis after several banks’ emergencies, crude oil surprised all by starting with a huge upward gap on April 3.
The gap is highly related to the OPEC announcement on being committed to applying the promised cuts. The voluntary cut of OPEC has faded away the fears of a surplus in 2023. However, the market participants should be careful about their instant decisions since it can be a temporary emotional reaction against the cut.
The Bitumen market, also following the crude trend, is acting livelier since the rise. Traders are rushing into the market for making their new orders fixed before oil goes higher.
Consequently, leading markets of bitumen have increased their prices recently. Iran, on the first day after the new year’s holidays, started strongly with a former increase in VB rates. India raised the price by 20 dollars and Bahrain increased bitumen by 30 dollars recently as well. The market should foresee a coming raise in Singapore bitumen rates too.
To the increase of prices in different regions, In the Middle East, the new steel drum bitumen is in the range of $ 435 – $ 445 and the bulk bitumen is in the range of $ 355 – $ 365. The bulk of Singapore is volatile in the range of $ 480 – $ 490 and South Korea is currently $ 430 – $ 445.
