In May, the price increase of domestic asphalt market is far less than that of crude oil market. According to the price monitoring data of the business agency, the asphalt price at the end of May was 2250 yuan / ton, only 2.16% higher than 2207 yuan / ton at the beginning of the month. In May, OPEC + implemented production reduction and the international crude oil market price went all the way up. On May 28, WTI crude oil price was 33.71 USD / barrel, up 70.42% from the beginning of the month.

The data shows that the import volume from January to March 2020 is 1093200 tons, an increase of 24.44% year on year. In April, the domestic asphalt production was 2513200 tons, an increase of 5% year-on-year. It is expected that the production in May will be 2.796 million tons, an increase of 18% year-on-year. In the early stage, the profit of asphalt in refineries was about 500 yuan / ton, and the operating rate of each refinery was constantly improved. The operating rate of asphalt in March was about 51%, and that in April was 58%. The strong supply of refinery asphalt not only meets the stock demand of low-cost asphalt resources of middle and lower reaches merchants, but also further suppresses the growth of asphalt market.

In late May, the settlement price of Sinopec’s Asphalt in East China and South China was increased by 100 yuan / ton, and the borrowing price in the mainstream asphalt market was increased by 50-100 yuan / ton. But at present, the peak season of asphalt demand has not yet arrived. In the middle of June, the southern region entered the Mei rainy season. The demand of asphalt terminal is limited, and the space for asphalt rising is compressed again.

Lu Xingjun, an asphalt analyst at the business club, believes that there are many negative factors such as the increase of crude oil inventory in the United States and the reduction of production in Russia. In the next half month, the international oil price is likely to fall again, and the asphalt market loses cost support. It is expected that the domestic asphalt market price will remain stable and fall in June.