Materials & Supplies
Great times ahead for bitumen dealers as demand grows
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 roads 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 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 road, 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 prior to 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.
READ: Luxembourg firm to build Sh500m bitumen plant in Kwale
Sixty per cent of by the bitumen used in Kenya comes from Iran, according to the Iran Ambassador to Kenya Dr Haji Farajvand.
The demand for the 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 growth of this market.
Bitumen, which is basically used for road surfacing, roofing, adhesives, insulation and others, is a residual product from the fractional distillation of crude oil in petroleum refining.
The material is mainly used for paving applications for construction of roadways, highways, footways, and others. It is also used for waterproofing, and damp proofing.
Countries such as the U.S., Canada, Germany, 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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