World Bitumen Market Slows Down on Over-Supply and Refinery Restructuring

As of October 22, 2025, the global bitumen market entered a new stage of exposure, writes WPB. Prices have gone down, signaling a convergence of weak construction demand, strong refinery run, and shifts in international crude oil economics. The international supply-demand imbalance remains the defining feature of market dynamics, putting ongoing pressure on benchmark prices across regions.

Structural Market Factors

The bitumen market continues to reflect the weakening of infrastructure investment, particularly in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. While underlying procurement is quiet, refinery runs at most key hubs—such as Singapore, Jamnagar, and Rotterdam—have continued on steady production levels. This has pushed a build of inventories in Fujairah right up to Antwerp storage terminals, indicating a persistent structural surplus.

Bitumen, as a refinery by-product of vacuum distillation, is still closely tied to heavier refinery stream economics. As refiners concentrate on higher-margin light distillates and petrochemical feedstocks, manufacturing heavier residues such as bitumen becomes increasingly responsive to the strategies of refinery optimization. This change in strategy is shifting regional balances and influencing the pattern of export flows.

Regional Insights

•Asia–Pacific: Indian, Chinese, and South Korean markets are experiencing ongoing weakness. Damping of road-paving and waterproofing activities, as well as delay in new public infrastructure contracts, delayed purchasing momentum. Congestion at east China ports further contributed to logistics nightmares, dampening ex-factory prices.

•Middle East: Export-oriented production persists in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Iran. There has been aggressive competitive pricing as producers attempt to maintain volumes into Africa and South Asia. Profit margins are eroding, though, due to declining international reference prices and high freight rates.

•Europe: Southern and Eastern European markets are weighed down with elevated levels of storage and weak construction activity. The combination of elevated inventories and weaker seasonal consumption has kept euro-denominated quotations near multi-month lows.

•Africa and Latin America: Conditions in the markets vary between regions. While African importers such as Kenya and Nigeria have recorded minimal activity in procurement tenders, Latin American refiners, particularly those from Brazil and Argentina, have seen a modest rise in offtake linked to public upkeep programs.

Impact of Crude Oil and Refinery Margins

Bitumen's link to crude oil continues to be the main price driver. Softening of the recent crude benchmarks has reduced costs, but refinery throughput cuts have created asymmetric supply. The divergence between cost relief and operating constraint has created localized price variance, with Asia experiencing deeper discountation and Europe holding steady.

Market Outlook

As the world enters the fourth quarter of 2025, the global bitumen market will remain under pressure unless demand fundamentals shift meaningfully. Infrastructure funding recovery—particularly in India, Southeast Asia, and North Africa—can absorb excess supply. Conversely, if refineries continue to favor higher-value products at the expense of residue processing, supply tightening can temper prices incrementally by 2026.

Conclusion

Through late October 2025, the bitumen market remains one of muted demand and operating lethargy. Regional differences exist, but the overall atmosphere is one of cautious restraint. Market participants are waiting for signals from shifting government infra budgets, refinery run levels, and crude stability to position for future action. Sustained recovery in the bitumen market will likely be dependent upon policy synchronization stimulus and new momentum in the global building economy.

By Bitumenmag

Bitumen, Price, Petroleum