Materials
Road asphalt is a crude oil refinery byproduct; infrastructure and maintenance costs track oil refining margins.
Why it matters · Road infrastructure and parking lot maintenance cost increases; construction project cost overruns.
3
Inputs
9
Companies
4
Facilities
8
Source countries
How it's made
Heavy Crude Oil Selection & Desalting
Extra-heavy crude (Venezuelan Orinoco Belt or Canadian Alberta bitumen) selected for high-asphaltene content; desalted at 200-300°F to prevent equipment corrosion
Atmospheric Distillation
Crude heated to ~700°F in furnace; fractionation tower separates lighter products (gasoline, diesel, kerosene) from heavy atmospheric residuum at bottom
Vacuum Distillation & Bitumen Extraction
Pressure reduced to 3-5% atmospheric to prevent cracking; vacuum residue (raw bitumen) collected from tower bottom; tested to performance grade (e.g., PG 64-22)
Bitumen Enhancement (Air Blowing or Polymer Modification)
Optional: hot air forced through bitumen at 220-300°C raises viscosity and softening point; or SBS polymer blended in to improve elasticity and rut resistance for polymer-modified asphalt (PMA)
Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) Plant Production
Crushed stone, sand, and gravel aggregates heated and mixed with bitumen binder at 150-180°C in drum or batch plant; precise gradation and binder content specified by mix design
Transport & Paving Application
Hot-mix transported in insulated trucks (must be placed at >120°C); asphalt paver spreads mix uniformly; steel-drum rollers compact to design density before cooling
Quality Acceptance Testing
Core samples tested for in-place density; nuclear density gauges measure compaction; ride quality (IRI) measured; project accepted or rejected per specs
What it's made of
3 raw inputs feed asphalt and paving materials. Inputs flagged with ● are critical, without them, production halts.
Where it comes from
Weighted share of upstream inputs sourced from each country.
| Country | Weighted share | Inputs supplied to asphalt and paving materials |
|---|---|---|
| CNChina | 50% | Crushed Stone Aggregate |
| USUnited States | 22% | Bitumen / Asphalt Binder · Crushed Stone Aggregate |
| RURussia | 12% | Bitumen / Asphalt Binder |
| SASaudi Arabia | 12% | Bitumen / Asphalt Binder |
| INIndia | 8% | Crushed Stone Aggregate |
| IRIran | 8% | Bitumen / Asphalt Binder |
| NLNetherlands | 8% | Bitumen / Asphalt Binder |
| IEIreland | 1% | Crushed Stone Aggregate |
Who makes it
9 companies in this supply chain, sorted by market share.
US's largest crushed stone producer; operates 300+ quarries, mines, and distribution facilities; supplies aggregates for asphalt, concrete, and railroad ballast; top-ranked by USGS in crushed stone production
Supplies these inputs
Crushed Stone Aggregate
Replaceability
Substitutability 60% · 6 mo to replace
Business segments
Shell Bitumen (operated through Shell International Trading and Shipping Company / STASCO; Shell plc; The Hague Netherlands; NYSE: SHEL) is the world's largest global bitumen supplier by volume — producing, blending, and trading bitumen from Shell's global refinery network (Shell Pernis Rotterdam — Europe's largest refinery; Shell Gulf Coast US; Shell Singapore). Shell Bitumen operates dedicated bitumen vessels, terminal infrastructure, and a technical service network for asphalt mix design. Shell's Cariphalte, Bitushield, and Styrelf modified bitumen product lines are used in airport runways, high-traffic motorways, and bridge deck waterproofing. Shell does not provide separate revenue disclosure for bitumen — it is part of the Oil Products / Marketing & Trading segment — but Shell estimates it supplies 25-30 million tonnes/year of bitumen globally across owned and traded volumes.
Supplies these inputs
Bitumen / Asphalt Binder
Replaceability
Substitutability 65% · 3 mo to replace
Business segments
US's second-largest crushed stone and aggregate producer; major supplier of limestone, granite, and sand/gravel for road paving and construction across eastern and central US
Supplies these inputs
Crushed Stone Aggregate
Replaceability
Substitutability 60% · 6 mo to replace
Business segments
North American subsidiary of CRH plc; operates 1,300+ aggregate, asphalt, concrete, and paving locations across US and Canada; third-largest US aggregate producer
Supplies these inputs
Crushed Stone Aggregate
Business segments
CRH plc (Dublin Ireland; NYSE: CRH — relocated NYSE primary listing from London 2023; formerly LSE primary; ~$35B revenue) is the world's largest building materials company by market capitalization and the #3 US crushed stone/aggregate producer through its Oldcastle Materials subsidiary. CRH's US aggregates business (Oldcastle) operates ~280 quarries across the US with particular strength in the US Southeast, Ohio River Valley, and Pacific Northwest. CRH/Oldcastle holds approximately 11-14% of US crushed stone market. CRH's Ireland headquarters and global scale make it the only non-US headquartered company in the US aggregate oligopoly. CRH has pursued an aggressive US acquisition strategy — purchasing Lane Industries, Pennsy Supply, and dozens of regional quarry operators over 30 years — making its US aggregate portfolio the product of hundreds of acquisitions rather than organic growth.
Supplies these inputs
Crushed Stone Aggregate
Replaceability
Substitutability 60% · 6 mo to replace
Business segments
ExxonMobil Chemical Company (Spring, Texas; NYSE: XOM; chemical segment ~$12B revenue) produces Vistalon EPDM at its Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Baytown, Texas complexes — two of the world's largest integrated petrochemical sites. Vistalon EPDM holds an estimated 12-15% global market share. ExxonMobil's ethylene and propylene feedstock integration at its Gulf Coast facilities provides a cost structure advantage for EPDM production. Vistalon is used in automotive seals, roofing membranes, wire insulation, and plumbing and water system gaskets. ExxonMobil also produces Butyl rubber (Butyl IIR) and other specialty elastomers from the same Gulf Coast facilities — the same sites producing vehicle fuel also produce the rubber seals used in plumbing systems.
Supplies these inputs
Bitumen / Asphalt Binder
Replaceability
Substitutability 65% · 3 mo to replace
Business segments
World's only independent specialist bitumen refiner; produces naphthenic specialty oils and bitumen; historically dependent on Venezuelan extra-heavy crude; sanctioned 2019-2020 due to PdVSA ownership stake, disrupting European bitumen supply
Supplies these inputs
Bitumen / Asphalt Binder
Replaceability
Substitutability 25% · 12 mo to replace
Business segments
French integrated energy and petrochemical company (NYSE: TTE, HQ Paris). TotalEnergies produces n-hexane at the Gonfreville (Normandy, France) and Antwerp (Belgium) refinery complexes. TotalEnergies' Petrochemicals division supplies European hexane markets for oilseed extraction (French/EU canola oil, sunflower oil crushing) and pharmaceutical solvent use. The Gonfreville refinery (Norman Refining, ~246,000 bpd) is one of France's largest. TotalEnergies' hexane is food-grade certified for EU markets where canola (rapeseed) and sunflower oil crushing uses hexane extraction extensively.
Supplies these inputs
Bitumen / Asphalt Binder
Replaceability
Substitutability 65% · 3 mo to replace
Business segments
World's second-largest cement producer by capacity (~274 Mt/yr). Record performance 2024. Divested US cement operations in 2024 (spun off as "Amrize"). Operates in 60+ countries with vertically integrated quarrying through distribution.
Supplies these inputs
Crushed Stone Aggregate
Replaceability
Substitutability 65% · 4 mo to replace
Business segments
Where it's made
4 facilities producing inputs that feed asphalt and paving materials.
Martin Marietta Materials · North Carolina / South Carolina · Quarry Network
Key granite quarry operations in the Piedmont region; supplies aggregates to Mid-Atlantic and Southeast road construction
Nynas AB · Hamburg-Harburg, Hamburg · Bitumen Refinery
Second major Nynas European refinery; supplies bitumen to Central European road construction markets
Nynas AB · Nynäshamn, Stockholm County · Bitumen Refinery
Primary Nynas bitumen refinery; processes Venezuelan and other extra-heavy crude into specialty bitumen and naphthenic oils for European road construction
Vulcan Materials Company · Alabama / Georgia · Quarry Network
Core operational region for Vulcan; includes major limestone quarries supplying aggregates for Southeast US road construction
