Bituminous market prices rose in September

Price Trend

According to the price monitoring of business associations, the price of asphalt market rose in September. At the end of the month, the price of asphalt was 3694 yuan/ton, which was 4.19% higher than that of 3546 yuan/ton at the beginning of the month.

II. Analysis of Influencing Factors

Products: In September, the market demand of East China asphalt was tight, and the market price was rising. The market demand of asphalt in other areas was normal. However, the international oil price soared in the middle of the year, which directly raised the domestic market price of asphalt.

Industry Chain: The Sino-US trade war continued at the beginning of this month with a weak overall atmosphere in the crude oil market. However, in Russia, the market bullish sentiment became stronger as the situation in the United States and Iran deteriorated. Saudi Arabia’s oil equipment was attacked in mid-month. After losing 5.7 million barrels per day of production, the market panicked up nearly 15%, but Saudi Arabia said oil production would resume in a short time and international oil prices would gradually fall in the latter half of the month.

Asphalt market: In September, the overall demand of domestic asphalt market realized smoothly, while demand in East China showed strong performance. In Northeast China, social inventory declined and refinery shipments began to improve; in Shandong and North China, due to the influence of National Day holidays and polluted weather, asphalt transportation and terminal projects were restricted, and the overall demand for asphalt was not good. Demand performance in East China is good, asphalt inventory in major refineries has decreased significantly, Sinopec has continuously raised settlement prices in the latter half of the year, and a large number of foreign resources have flowed into East China. In South and Southwest China, the demand has not changed significantly, and the market supply is still abundant. Driven by strong demand in East China and soaring crude oil prices in mid-September, domestic asphalt market prices went on as a whole.

3. Future Market Forecast

According to Lu Xingjun, asphalt analyst of business association, the international crude oil market is expected to be stable in October, and the price of asphalt is expected to be stable in October due to the lifting of the ban on asphalt demand during the National Day holiday.