Group 1: Report Overview - Report Title: Asphalt Weekly Report - Fluctuating with Costs [1] - Report Date: June 6, 2025 [2] Group 2: Investment Rating - No investment rating provided in the report Group 3: Core Views - Last week's view: It was the preparation stage before the traditional peak season, with factory inventories at a low level compared to the same period, boosting asphalt prices. However, the rainy season would affect demand, weakening the strength of asphalt, but it was still expected to be stronger than crude oil products in the same period [7] - This week's price trend: This week, asphalt fluctuated in place, generally following the cost-side crude oil without additional upward momentum [7] - This week's industry data: This week, both supply and demand of refineries increased, and both factory and social inventories were at low levels compared to the same period, providing some support for pricing before the peak season. However, the impact of the rainy season on demand needed to be considered in the short term [7] - This week's view: It is still the preparation stage before the traditional peak season, with factory inventories at a low level compared to the same period, boosting asphalt prices. However, the rainy season will affect demand, and the recent repair of asphalt profits has boosted the willingness to start work. It is expected that the previous relative strength will be weakened [7] Group 4: Data Overview 2.1 Asphalt Futures Trends, Monthly Spreads, and Basis - The report presents data on asphalt futures trends, monthly spreads (BU6 - BU9), and basis in East China and Shandong regions from 2020 - 2025, sourced from Wind and Steel Union Data [9][10][11] 2.2 Asphalt Supply - The data includes asphalt plant operating rates, weekly asphalt production, refinery asphalt profits, and the profit difference between asphalt and fuel oil multiplied by the asphalt operating rate from 2021 - 2025, sourced from Steel Union Data [12][13][14] 2.3 Asphalt Demand - Data on asphalt shipments, apparent asphalt consumption, paver sales, and the product of paver sales and apparent asphalt consumption from 2020 - 2025 are presented, sourced from Steel Union Data [15][16][17] 2.4 Asphalt Imports and Exports - The report shows data on asphalt imports, exports, import windows in East China and South China, and the price differences between imported and domestic mainstream prices from 2021 - 2025, sourced from Steel Union Data [18][19][20] 2.5 Asphalt Inventory - Information on factory inventories, social inventories, futures inventories, and monthly futures delivery volumes from 2021 - 2025 is provided, sourced from Steel Union Data [21][22][23] 2.6 Shandong Asphalt Supply, Demand, and Inventory - Data on Shandong's asphalt operating rates, shipments, factory inventories, and social inventories from 2021 - 2025 are presented, sourced from Steel Union Data [24][25][26] 2.7 East China Asphalt Supply, Demand, and Inventory - The report includes data on East China's asphalt operating rates, shipments, factory inventories, and social inventories from 2020 - 2025, sourced from Steel Union Data [27][28][29] 2.8 South China Asphalt Supply, Demand, and Inventory - Information on South China's asphalt operating rates, shipments, factory inventories, and social inventories from 2020 - 2025 is provided, sourced from Steel Union Data [30][31][32] 2.9 Refinery Maintenance Schedule - A table shows the maintenance information of multiple refineries, including the production enterprise, maintenance device, production capacity, maintenance start time, and end time. The total annual production capacity of the refineries under maintenance is 20.36 million tons, and the maintenance loss is 738,000 tons, sourced from Steel Union Data [33]

Group 1 - The asphalt spot price in East China on May 26 was quoted at 3580.00 CNY/ton, which is a premium of 54.00 CNY/ton over the futures main price of 3526.00 CNY/ton [1] - The futures market saw the main asphalt contract close at 3526.00 CNY/ton on May 26, with a slight increase of 0.06%, reaching a high of 3544.00 CNY/ton and a low of 3493.00 CNY/ton, with a trading volume of 255,407 lots [2] - The latest asphalt shipment volume was 435,000 tons, reflecting an increase of 43,000 tons compared to the previous period [3] Group 2 - As of May 22, the inventory of 54 asphalt sample refineries decreased by 54,000 tons, while the inventory of 104 sample traders fell by 16,000 tons [4] - According to a report from Zhonghui Futures, while costs are a drag, downstream demand remains relatively optimistic, leading to asphalt prices performing better than crude oil. The current supply-demand imbalance is not pronounced, with demand showing an upward trend, particularly stronger in the north compared to the south [5]

Group 1: Report's Core View - This week, due to the tightening supply of crude oil and rising oil prices, asphalt prices increased. Shandong's spot prices rose slightly, and the futures market strengthened marginally. With low production and a slight increase in shipments, factory inventories continued to decline while social inventories increased, resulting in overall stable inventories and a marginal improvement. The supply in the north is tight, while that in the east and south is relatively abundant. The positives include low inventory levels, tight and expensive heavy - oil raw materials, and a decrease in April production schedules. The negatives are the lack of demand improvement, weak spot prices in the east and south, and price cuts by Sinopec. The fundamentals have slightly improved, with short - term prices remaining weakly stable. Inventories are expected to gradually increase at a low level in the first half of the year. It is recommended to monitor actual inventory conditions and the impact of US sanctions on raw materials. Prices are expected to fluctuate with crude oil, and it is advisable to consider long positions in distant contracts such as the 09 contract [1] Group 2: Data Summary Spot and Futures Prices - From April 24th to April 30th, the low - end spot prices in East China and Shandong remained unchanged at 3520 yuan/ton and 3370 yuan/ton respectively, and the low - end spot price in Northeast China remained at 3750 yuan/ton. The futures price decreased by 22 yuan to 3408 yuan/ton, and the main - contract basis increased by 22 to 112 [1] Other Prices - The FOB price from South Korea to East China remained at 463, and the RMB - converted price decreased by 1 to 4076 yuan. The price of Shandong coker feedstock remained at 4260 yuan [1] Production and Inventory - The daily asphalt production is 6.3 (+0) million tons. This week, factory inventories decreased while social inventories increased, with overall stable inventories [1] Market Conditions - Shandong's spot prices remained stable, with a market reference price of 3510 - 3700 yuan/ton. The asphalt futures market fluctuated, and crack spread profits were at a moderate level. Gasoline and diesel prices in Shandong increased slightly [1]