Report Industry Investment Rating - The report does not explicitly mention the industry investment rating. Core View of the Report - With the improvement of macro - factors, the enhancement of cost support from the improvement of the crude oil supply - demand structure, and the fact that asphalt demand is stronger than supply with inventory depletion, it is expected that the domestic asphalt futures 2509 contract will maintain a volatile and upward - trending pattern [2][3][5]. Summary by Related Content Macro - factor Impact - The US House of Representatives passed the stablecoin bill, which may alleviate the US debt crisis and strengthen the global dominance of the US dollar. Meanwhile, China's "anti - involution" policy has led to a significant rise in the black and building materials commodity sectors, creating an optimistic macro - atmosphere for the domestic commodity futures market [2]. Crude Oil Market Situation - The global crude oil market shows a situation of strong supply and demand. OPEC + will increase production in August, with an expected daily increase of 548,000 barrels, and may consider another increase of about 548,000 barrels per day in September, but the subsequent increase is expected to decline. Currently, it is the peak oil - using season in the Northern Hemisphere, and inventory is decreasing. As of July 11, 2025, US commercial crude oil inventory decreased by 3.859 million barrels week - on - week, and the refinery operating rate was at a high level of 93.9% [3]. Asphalt Supply and Demand - Due to the improvement of the comprehensive profit of asphalt production in domestic refineries in mid - July, the refinery operating rate has slightly increased. As of the week of July 18, the domestic asphalt device maintenance volume decreased by 1.4% week - on - week, and the total weekly output increased slightly by 0.6 tons. The downstream demand is in the peak season, with the sample shipment volume of 54 domestic asphalt enterprises increasing by 4.0% week - on - week. The asphalt social inventory has slightly decreased, with the sample factory inventory decreasing by 4.1% week - on - week and the sample social inventory decreasing by 33.6% compared with the same period last year [4].