Argus Dewitt Methanol & Derivatives

Argus Asphalt Report

Issue 14-22 | Friday 30 May 2014

Summary Asphalt prices at key locations, 26-30 May Low High ±

Prices continued to rise in the US Atlantic coast and Midwest, US rack prices, fob $/st with production constrained and paving season getting into Northern New Jersey/New York City Metro 515 535 0 full swing. New demand in the Midwest limited flows to the Coastal Texas 525 550 0 east, pulling both markets higher. Northern Illinois/eastern Iowa 535 550 +8 Southern California 515 525 0 US imports from Canada and Venezuela slowed this week, Western Washington/Oregon 590 610 0 but some material was delivered into Maine, and new vessels US waterborne, fob $/st East Gulf coast barge fob 485 500 +5 were already loading in Venezuela. West Gulf coast barge fob 480 495 +5 Midwest barge fob 490 505 +15 Availabilities continued to tighten in the US Gulf, and supply Canada rack prices, fob $/st could be further curtailed after a Louisiana tornado knocked Quebec 598 602 -5 some crude units off line. Prices had yet to respond as of Ontario 590 594 +3 Friday. Europe rack prices, fob $/st Rotterdam 572 599 +4 Rack prices began to rise in some parts of the Midwest, but Southwest Spain 634 661 -3 distributors’ margins remained extremely narrow. Asia-Pacific and Africa rack prices, fob $/st South Africa 660 680 0 Singapore 590 600 -5 Bitumen shipping activity picked up in northwest Europe and Asia waterborne, fob $/t Scandinavia, with tankers belonging to the main fleets fully Iran cargo fob 460 470 0 or nearly fully employed in late May through to early June. Singapore cargo fob 528 533 -1 Taiwan cargo fob 520 525 0 An Italian oil refiner was reported seeking ships to move South China cfr 545 585 0 bitumen cargoes into Sardinia and into Lavera, France, but no st - short ton, t - metric tonne fixtures on the routes were reported.

Most Balkan roads and border crossings were open once again Contents after the flooding in mid-May that caused may roads to be Summary 1 cut off and trucked volumes falling sharply, especially out of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia. Some minor delays – of up to Global bitumen wholesale prices 2 5-10 hours – were still reported in late May at some customs US and Canada 3-9 points along the border between those two countries. East coast 3 Gulf coast 5 A 530,000 bl (77,500t) cargo of Western Canadian Select Midwest 6 was shipped to Repsol’s Petronor refinery in Bilbao, the first Rocky Mountain and west coast 7 tar sands cargo to be imported into the unit. It was to be Canada 8 blended with a light crude cargo and fed into the refinery, Europe and Africa 10 which was fitted with a coking unit while desulphurisation Asia-Pacific and Middle East 16 units were upgraded in a project that was completed in Crude 23 March 2013. Oil industry news 24 Singapore bulk prices remained flat for June end loading Argus Media contact information 25

Global wholesale bitumen prices, fob basis $/t

Italy $521/t Greece South Korea $536/t $508/t New Jersey Netherlands $548/t $556/t Thailand $525/t West Gulf coast $537/t Spain Iran Japan $521/t $465/t $528/t

East Gulf coast Taiwan Bahrain $543/t $523/t $550/t

Singapore Ivory Coast $531/t $616/t

Med and NWE HSFO prices on 29 May were used to calculate Europe and Africa wholesale bitumen prices

Summary cargoes, with some tonnage still available for the delivery Upcoming Argus period. The prices were lower by $1/t and were in the $528-533/t fob. A Singapore-based refiner may have surplus asphalt/bitumen conferences: tonnage in July as the refinery was under some minor Last week to register for maintenance and production may be higher. Argus Europe Bitumen 2014 Rome, Italy, 11-12 June Indonesia’s domestic refiner is expected to revise prices on 1 June. The last adjustment dropped prices by $4/t amid weak Argus Asia-Pacific and