US GULF COAST

摘要

The assessed range for US Gulf coast waterborne asphalt widened to a $170-225/st range this week on mixed indications. A new PG 64-22 transaction was struck at $170/st, for a cargo size of several thousand tons. Most indications began to trend toward the top of the assessed range, however. Several suppliers were quoting material around $200/st for forward loading. Wholesale volumes in the US Gulf have become increasingly tight on the back of strong end-use consumption, with brisk rack sales draining inventories at a fast pace. At least one refiner had no excess bulk material available and had instead elected to fill its own rack terminals. Retail prices were unchanged this week, although producers reported higher rack sales volume than last year.