West Asia conflict causes India bitumen shortage and prices surge
India
India is running low on bitumen (the stuff that keeps our roads together) thanks to the ongoing conflict in West Asia.
Prices for the most-used bitumen grade (VG-40) have nearly doubled, and supplies are drying up, putting a serious dent in road construction and maintenance.
Highway construction at 1-quarter pace
Highway projects alone need almost 600,000 tons of bitumen by mid-July, but there just is not enough to go around.
Even though India is still importing Russian oil, it cannot produce the right type of bitumen for our climate.
As a result, highway construction has slowed to one-quarter of its usual pace.