Penetration grade 60/70 and 80/100, loaded at Sohar for Colombo, Hambantota and Trincomalee.
Sri Lanka has no domestic bitumen production. Every tonne laid on the island arrives by sea, which makes the import chain — grade, packing, inspection and documentation — the whole of the supply question rather than a detail at the end of it.
Penetration grading is the convention here, unlike India. Grade 60/70 is the standard paving binder for trunk roads and expressway work, with 80/100 used where a softer binder suits the mix or the season. Both are supplied against the same contract terms.
Public road works are procured against the Road Development Authority’s standard specifications, which call up penetration grade binder tested to the ASTM series — penetration to ASTM D5, softening point to ASTM D36, ductility to ASTM D113 and flash point to ASTM D92. Those are the same test methods that appear on our Certificate of Analysis, which makes the comparison between offer and tender document straightforward.
Where a contractor is supplying into a project with its own employer’s requirements, we ask for the specification clause itself at enquiry stage rather than the grade name alone. It costs nothing to check before contract and it is the single most common reason a cargo is rejected at destination.
Sohar to Colombo is a direct container run across the Arabian Sea. Sailing schedules and transit times are confirmed against the carrier’s booking at the time of the offer.
| Port | Serves |
|---|---|
| Colombo | Principal gateway; onward road haulage to the Western, Central and Southern provinces |
| Hambantota | Southern expressway and port-area projects |
| Trincomalee | Eastern province works |
Sri Lankan importers have had to work around foreign-currency and import-control constraints in recent years, and it shapes how a supply contract should be written. We would rather agree the payment instrument and the document set before the offer is firmed than discover a bank cannot open what the contract assumes.
Our standard is bank transfer against the agreed milestones. A letter of credit is considered case by case; where one is used, we review the draft credit and confirm every document, deadline and clause we can meet before the buyer instructs their bank.
