Materials & Supplies
Bright Future for Bitumen Dealers as Demand Soars
Bitumen use in the country is expected to rise to over 35,000 metric tonnes in 2018.
Demand for bitumen, a viscous black thick substance used for waterproofing and as an adhesive in road construction, is expected to rise thanks to the many planned and ongoing road projects across the country.
According to recent projections by industry analysts, bitumen use in 2018 will rise to over 35,000 metric tonnes due to the government’s decision to increase budgetary allocation to road construction activities.
In the 2018/2019 budget, National Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich has increased the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Roads from Sh134.9 billion to Sh271.6 billion for the construction and maintenance of major roads in the country.
This is a major boon for the sector considering that intensified civil works led to a significant increase in the length of bitumen roads, from 14.5 thousand kilometres in 2016 to 20.6 thousand kilometres in 2017.
The planned increase in road construction and maintenance is expected to raise the demand for bitumen in Kenya, dealers say while admitting that before 2004 demand was low as the State was not investing significantly in road construction.
“Demand for bitumen is growing upwards as there is a lot of road construction, both planned and ongoing,” says Ahmed Hassan Abdi, a Nairobi-based bitumen dealer.
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Sixty per cent of the bitumen used in Kenya comes from Iran, according to the Iran Ambassador to Kenya Dr Haji Farajvand.
The demand for road construction material has been on an upward trend globally thanks to the many planned and ongoing road construction activities around the world, with Global Market Insights Inc. predicting that the market will exceed $110 billion by 2024.
The rapid growth of the market will mainly be stirred by increasing government initiatives towards repairs and redevelopment of roads around the world.
Growing demand for bitumen for soundproofing, paints, roofing, and ink production is another factor expected to propel the growth of this market.
Bitumen, which is used for road surfacing, roofing, adhesives, insulation, and other applications, is a residual product from the fractional distillation process in the refining of petroleum from crude oil.
It is mainly used in pavement applications for the construction of roadways, highways, footways, and similar infrastructure. It is also used for waterproofing and damp proofing.
Countries such as the U.S., Canada, Germany, the UK, France, Spain, Italy, China, India, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico, and South Africa dominate the global bitumen market.
Leading corporations in this market are ExxonMobil, Valero Energy Corporation, Nynas AB, NuStar Energy, Marathon Oil Company, and Shell Bitumen.
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