Penetration grade 60/70 and viscosity grades VG-30 and VG-40, loaded at Sohar for Mundra, Kandla, Chennai and Visakhapatnam.
India is the largest single destination for Omani bitumen, and the reason is geography before it is price. Sohar lies on the Gulf of Oman, outside the Strait of Hormuz, and sits almost directly across the Arabian Sea from Mundra and Kandla. A container leaving Sohar reaches the Gujarat ports in a matter of days, not weeks.
That short leg does two things to a delivered price. It keeps ocean freight low, and it keeps the cargo out of the war-risk premium that applies to loadings inside the Arabian Gulf. On a CFR basis both show up in the number the buyer actually pays.
India grades paving bitumen by viscosity, not by penetration. IS 73:2013 specifies the VG series — VG-10, VG-20, VG-30 and VG-40 — and national and state highway work is written against those grades. VG-30 is the general-purpose paving grade for most of the country; VG-40 is specified for heavily loaded intersections, toll plazas and high-stress pavements.
Penetration grade 60/70 is the closest counterpart to VG-30 in behaviour, and the two are often discussed as if they were interchangeable. They are not the same specification. A cargo sold as 60/70 will not satisfy a tender written to IS 73 unless it has been produced and certified against the VG requirement.
So the first question we ask an Indian buyer is which document the cargo has to satisfy: IS 73 for public works, or a penetration specification for private, industrial or re-export use. We produce and certify to whichever applies, and we say so on the offer.
Certificate of Analysis from the producing refinery against the nominated standard, plus SGS certificates of quality and weight drawn at the loading point. Certificate of Origin attested by the Oman Chamber of Commerce.
| Port | State | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Mundra | Gujarat | Highest-frequency service from Sohar; onward rail and road to the north and west |
| Kandla (Deendayal) | Gujarat | Established bulk and break-bulk bitumen gateway |
| Nhava Sheva (JNPT) | Maharashtra | Container cargo for Maharashtra and the Deccan |
| Chennai / Ennore | Tamil Nadu | Southern and eastern highway programmes |
| Visakhapatnam | Andhra Pradesh | East coast corridors and onward to Odisha |
Other Indian ports are quoted on request. Sailing schedules and transit times are confirmed against the carrier's booking at the time of the offer, not estimated.
New 180 kg steel drums remain the default for Indian buyers who break the cargo down and haul it inland by road. Asphalt plants running continuous production increasingly take 1 MT jumbo bags, which melt into the mixer and leave nothing to dispose of.
One 20′ FCL carries roughly 19.8–20 MT in drums. Trial orders of a single container are accepted; our monthly capacity is 5,000 MT.
FOB Sohar as standard, CFR or CIF to the nominated port on request. Payment by bank transfer; letter of credit is considered case by case and confirmed in the contract.
A note on duty. The India–Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement has been in force since 1 June 2026, and buyers reasonably ask whether it applies. Preferential treatment under any such agreement follows the origin of the goods, not the port they load at, and is subject to India’s CAROTAR rules of origin. Cargo that ships from Sohar but is produced elsewhere does not become Omani-origin by loading there. We fix the producing refinery and the country of origin in the contract and declare both on the Certificate of Origin, so your customs broker can assess the duty position before the cargo sails rather than after it arrives.
