The international crude oil price fluctuated upward, the weather turned cold, the asphalt demand of terminal road engineering remained low, the domestic asphalt market was stable as a whole, and the asphalt price rose steadily, boosted by the crude oil price. According to the price monitoring data of SunSirs, the asphalt price was 2,512 RMB/ ton on January 15, up 1.31% from the beginning of the week.
Last week, the international crude oil market was frequently bullish. Saudi Arabia sharply cut production and reduced crude oil exports to the United States. The U.S. crude oil inventory showed a downward trend. The vaccine started. The market expected that the epidemic would be effectively controlled. Last week, the international oil price fluctuated at a high level. WTI crude oil price rose 2.55% and Brent crude oil price rose 0.77%.
International oil prices rose sharply, but affected by low temperature weather, domestic asphalt market demand remained low. The demand for asphalt in East China, South China and southwest China remained stable; the road demand in Northeast and Northwest China basically ended, and some refineries switched to coking. The domestic asphalt market has entered the off-season demand, coupled with the arrival of the Spring Festival holiday; the domestic asphalt demand is poor. The increase of asphalt price is limited.
SunSirs analysts believe that with the advance of vaccination and the favorable support of OPEC countries such as Saudi Arabia, the international oil price is expected to remain high in the short term. As the Spring Festival holiday is coming, the asphalt market lacks effective demand support, and China domestic asphalt price is expected to be stable.
