Vietnam spends US$4.3 billion on importing nearly 30 million tonnes of coal

This sharp increase in import volume is primarily attributable to the large demand for thermal power. In comparison with the last two years, the country’s coal import volume in the opening seven months of the year is equal to 93% of the total coal import volume for the entire year of 2022.

This shows that the trend of importing coal to the nation has increased sharply after two years of the impact of COVID-19.

Providing that local enterprises import an average of four million tonnes over the next five months, the country is likely to import between 45 million tonnes and nearly 50 million tonnes, equivalent to the peak import level seen back in 2020.

With regard to the origin of imported coal products, the nation tends to import the largest amount of coal from countries such as Australia, Indonesia, Russia, and China.

Coal import volume from these countries reached more than 26.1 million tonnes, duly accounting for nearly 89% of total imports.

Specifically, the past seven months witnessed Vietnamese enterprises import more than 12.5 million tonnes of coal from Australia worth US$2.13 billion, representing a rise of more than 2 million tonnes but a decline of over US$860 million compared to the same period from last year.

The average price of imported coal throughout the reviewed period stood at VND2.5 million per tonne, lower than the average price of imported coal against the same period last year.

Notably, the price of coal imports from China to Vietnam stood at the highest level among the countries supplying coal to the Vietnamese market, hovering at VND6.8 million per tonne, representing a decrease of roughly 50% compared to the same period from last year.