Vietnam spends nearly US$5 billion importing oil and petrol products in 7 months
VOV.VN - Vietnam imported 6.13 million tonnes of petrol, oil and other petroleum products during the first seven months of this year worth US$4.88 billion, up 12.7% in volume and 14.7% in value compared to the same period last year.
According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, July alone witnessed the country import 922,000 tonnes with a total value of US$725 million, marking a decrease of 11.8% in volume and 3.7% in value year on year.
Diesel made up the lion’s share of the imported volume with 3.35 million tonnes, up 6.2%, while petrol was also the main imported item with 1.28 million tonnes, up 28.9%.
The Republic of Korea was the largest petroleum supplier to the country with 2.46 million tonnes in the first seven months, up 13.5%, followed by Singapore and Malaysia.
The rise of oil and petrol imports can be attributed to the temporary closure of the Nghi Son Refinery Plant for maintenance. The plant, that supplies more than one third of Vietnam’s petrol and oil demand, is scheduled to suspend all production activities for 55 days, starting on August 25.
The plant reported the maintenance work to the Ministry of Industry and Trade from the end of 2022 so that the Ministry could come up with a plan to compensate for the shortage of petroleum supply.
