North China to see bitumen price fall despite large supply cut

09 May 2012 10:45  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--China’s bitumen supply in regions to the north of the Yangtze River is expected to decline in May but this will unlikely prevent an expected bearish price trend, traders said on Wednesday.

Northeast, north and northwest China will produce about 500,000 tonnes of bitumen in total in May, a decline of 19% month on month, according to ICIS C1, an ICIS service in China.

However, the end-user demand in Shandong, Hebei and Henan provinces remains soft because of tight funding and high bitumen price.

Therefore, north China and Shandong may be the first to witness large price falls in May, industry sources said.

Bitumen price in the north of the Yangtze River has been relatively stable in the past month at CNY4,880-5,100/tonne ($773-808/tonne) largely because of stocking demand, which is now nearly over.

Northeast and northwest China are predicted to supply 278,000 tonnes and 110,000 tonnes respectively in May, which are drops of 24% and 37% month on month.

This is because of plant maintenances and production cuts, ICIS C1 data showed.

However, North China is predicted to produce 115,000 tonnes, a rise of 46% month on month because of refiners resuming bitumen production, ICIS C1 data indicated.

($1 = CNY6.31)

By: Jessie Yang

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