India's bitumen supply situation has shown significant improvement following the resolution of supply chain disruptions. According to The Times of India, the country had faced a severe bitumen shortage at the peak of the West Asia crisis despite receiving crude supplies from Russia. The primary challenge was that Russian oil is predominantly 'sweet crude', making it unsuitable for producing high-quality bitumen. However, availability has now improved substantially with higher domestic production and increased imports of Venezuelan crude. Recent developments show that Tanzania remains part of the regional drummed bitumen freight network with freight from Bandar Abbas or Jebel Ali to Dar es Salaam staying at $255-270/t, though no fresh shipping indications have been reported.
While Venezuelan crude addresses the supply shortage by yielding more bitumen, it presents new processing challenges. As reported by The Times of India, Venezuelan crude is 'sour crude' with higher sulphur content and is costlier to process compared to sweet crude. This shift in crude type has created additional operational costs for bitumen producers, even as it improves overall supply availability. The supply chain challenges are reflected globally, with Iranian bitumen prices falling for bulk cargoes as shipping risks and trade restrictions increased, while drummed exports stayed at $385-400/t fob Bandar Abbas.
Despite improved availability, bitumen costs remain significantly elevated compared to pre-conflict levels. According to The Times of India, the price of VG-40 bitumen, the grade most widely used for road and highway projects in India, spiked from ₹52,000-55,000 per tonne before the conflict to over ₹1 lakh per tonne in May. This represents a dramatic increase of approximately ₹48,000-₹49,000 per tonne during the supply disruption period when crude supplies from West Asia were severely disrupted due to the closure of Strait of Hormuz. Global markets show similar trends, with South African truck prices falling as rising imports outpaced local demand, dropping R300/t to R14,000-14,500/t ex-works, while Nigeria's domestic truck prices fell by N25,000/t to N1.22-1.25mn/t ex-works due to weak rainy-season demand.
India's bitumen market faces significant supply chain vulnerabilities despite recent improvements. According to Argus customs data, India's bitumen imports fell sharply by 50% to approximately 905,000 tonnes in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, with second-quarter imports declining by roughly 68% year-on-year. The country's annual bitumen requirement is estimated at around 12 million tonnes while domestic petroleum companies have capacity for only approximately 5 million tonnes, creating substantial import dependency. India's dependence on West Asian suppliers is particularly acute, with more than 99% of India's bitumen imports sourced from Iraq, the UAE, Iran, Oman and Bahrain. The country consumed approximately 8.74 million tonnes of bitumen in 2025, up from 8.43 million tonnes in 2024, reflecting the expanding road construction program.
