Bitumen Supplier, Sri Lanka

Sixty thousand tonnes a year, all of it from the Gulf

Sri Lanka declared 62,819 tonnes of bitumen imports in 2025: Bahrain 59 per cent, the UAE 37 per cent, Iraq 3 per cent direct and Qatar 1 per cent, at a declared CIF value of about USD 508 per tonne. In 2024 the same market took 64,671 tonnes, split almost evenly between the UAE and Bahrain at USD 400 to 410. Two things changed in a year: Bahrain overtook the UAE as the lead supplier, and the landed value rose by about a quarter. What did not change is the dependence — more than 95 per cent of the island's bitumen loads inside the Gulf, in parcels sized for Colombo's drum importers and the handful of bulk receivers.

CBIL brokers penetration 60/70 and 80/100 into Colombo in new 180 kg steel drums, jumbo bags and small bulk parcels, on CFR or CIF terms with inspection at filling and the refinery named on the certificate of origin. Sri Lankan buyers range from the importers who supply the road-development programme to emulsion and cutback manufacturers who need base bitumen, and their parcel sizes suit both drummed containers and 2,000 to 5,000 tonne bulk lots. We work from a named buyer's grade, quantity, basis and timing, and we quote only against those.

Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices bitumen tanker and drummed bitumen freight on LaycanDesk.