Emerging Effects of Middle East Tensions
The Bitumen market almost kept the slow movements and trends that it had for the last two weeks in most markets. In most regions, we had an increase including Europe, Africa, and East Asia. Bitumen rates were almost unchanged in the west of Asia but it might be temporary due to the freight changes. Shipping lines, as we noted in the last several reports, are now increasing freights due to war risks and container shortages. Therefore, traders need to be cautious about updated freights and changes.
The Middle East tensions and their effects on global markets look to be emerging and we might see extreme changes coming. According to some experts, Ghaza war can be the most important bottleneck for oil in the coming weeks. It seems that the world has been ignoring the reality of disputes and their effects on crude oil and petroleum markets.
In the Middle East, the new steel drum bitumen was in the range of $ 360 – $ 365 and the bulk bitumen was in the range of $ 280 – $ 285. The bulk of Singapore is volatile in the range of $ 430 – $ 435 and South Korea is currently $ 410 – $ 415. Bahrain bulk recorded 360 USD at the end of the year.
