Not all bitumen qualities are suitable for road construction. Imagine a customer unknowingly purchasing bitumen suitable for insulation and/or roofing and not intended for road construction. Is the saving of 10.00 USD/MT to 20.00 USD/MT worth damaging their hard earned investment and reputation?

There are endless customers which are familiar with Iranian bitumen. They have previously purchased it from Iranian suppliers and are satisfied with the quality and the service they have received. This is excellent! We are all thankful to those suppliers and buyers for supporting Iran’s petrochemical industry. Expert suppliers give other noble suppliers the chance to also sell bitumen to the various customers with bitumen in the future. While one bad experience can contribute to the eventual collapse of this industry.

Our focus in this article is the customers which may not have received the quality which they expected and are wondering why? or the ones who are just beginning your experience in the bitumen market please consider the following guidance to make the best informed decision.

Why do we reiterate this point about quality and pricing over and over?

– Continuous customer feedback about the bitumen prices they are receiving which are too low to be for road quality bitumen
– Customer feedback about the bad experiences they have had or know someone who has dealing with low quality bitumen which are often supported with pictures or evidence
– The continued challenge of respectable bitumen producers, brokers, and suppliers who struggle to compete with low quality bitumen offers which are unsubstantiated in most cases. In other cases if there is bitumen of such low pricing it is generally not suitable for road construction. It also primarily does not comply with ASTM standards.

Good suppliers are not saying that low quality or rather off specs bitumen as per ASTM standards has no place in the market. Not at all. All types of qualities are essential to exist in any market for different purposes. The bitumen community is advising bitumen enthusiasts understand that all bitumen qualities are not the same. New bitumen clients often suggest that all bitumen prices should be exactly the same. Our customer service department usually replies by asking them should all shoes, glues, cloth or paint cost the same price? This question clearly answers itself as there are various levels of quality and purpose for each product.

Bitumen buyers should not ask a high quality bitumen producer to offer them the same rates as a supplier who is offering them bitumen suitable for roofing or other purposes and not necessarily road construction. This will surely get their blood boiling and show them that you’re actually not well informed about this business and it’s going to be a long time before you are wise enough to make the right decision on your purchase.

We will soon discuss our personal view on how the international inspection company(s) method of taking samples of bitumen can improve and distinguish the quality differences. One way is to take bitumen samples from the bottom of the bitumen drums as well as the top.